The Dallas Mavericks were supposed to be fighting for one of the top seven spots in the NBA's Western Conference when they acquired Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets.

Dallas enters Monday not just outside the top seven, but in 11th place looking up at the four play-in tournament positions.

Consecutive losses to the tanking, LaMelo Ball-less Charlotte Hornets put the Mavericks one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sunday's loss marked the start of a five-game road trip.

The seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves in are on a three-game winning streak, and the eighth-place New Orleans Pelicans have won four straight.

The spotlight will shine on the West playoff race between now and the end of the regular season because the teams from fourth to 12th are separated by four games.

The Eastern Conference playoff race has far more clarity because of the separation between teams. The Chicago Bulls hold a 3.5-game edge over the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards for the No. 10 seed.

At the top, the Milwaukee Bucks lead the Boston Celtics by 1.5 games. The Philadelphia 76ers are four games behind Milwaukee and seem to be headed for the No. 3 seed unless the standings drastically change over the next few weeks.

Eastern Conference

1. Milwaukee (53-21)

2. Boston (52-23)

3. Philadelphia (49-25)

4. Cleveland (48-28)

5. New York (42-33)

6. Brooklyn (40-35)

Play-In Race

7. Miami (40-35)

8. Atlanta (37-38)

9. Toronto (37-38)

10. Chicago (36-38)

11. Indiana (33-42)

12. Washington (33-42)

13. Orlando (32-43)

The top four teams in the Eastern Conference have clinched playoff berths.

The Bucks can get a larger grip on the No. 1 seed if they beat Boston and Philadelphia at home on Thursday and Sunday.

Milwaukee should win its other six remaining games, so at least a win over Boston would keep open a clear path to the No. 1 seed.

Boston visits Philadelphia on April 4 in a contest that will likely decide the No. 2 seed if it wins.

The Sixers have three tough games just to get to the Milwaukee-Boston stretch of their schedule. They face Denver on Monday night in a showdown of Most Valuable Player candidates Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić. Then they host a desperate Dallas team and a Toronto side fighting for positioning in the play-in round.

Philadelphia finishes with Miami at home and road trips to Atlanta and Brooklyn. That is by far the toughest regular-season conclusion between it, Boston and Milwaukee.

The other true fight in the East is for the No. 6 seed and play-in positioning. Cleveland is safe as the No. 4 seed, and New York holds a two-game lead over Brooklyn for the No. 5 seed.

Brooklyn and Miami have identical records, and the No. 6 seed could be decided on the final day of the regular season, as could the No. 8 seed between Atlanta, Toronto and Chicago.

Indiana, Washington and Orlando may be too far back to mount a significant challenge for the No. 10 seed.

Brooklyn holds the clear edge over Miami since it plays six of its last seven games at home. Miami has five road games in the last seven.

The Heat start their road run in Toronto on Tuesday. The Raptors have the most difficult schedule left of any team in the East. They embark on a five-game road trip after Tuesday. Toronto faces Philadelphia once and Boston twice.

The Raptors do have back-to-back road games in Charlotte, but they also have to finish the season by hosting Milwaukee.

Atlanta and Chicago each have four home games remaining, and their April 4 clash inside the United Center could decide which teams lands in eighth place if Toronto struggles with some of its road games.

Seed Predictions

1. Milwaukee

2. Boston

3. Philadelphia

4. Cleveland

5. New York

6. Brooklyn

7. Miami

8. Chicago

9. Atlanta

10. Toronto

Western Conference

1. Denver (50-24)

2. Memphis (47-27)

3. Sacramento (45-29)

4. Phoenix (39-35)

5. Los Angeles Clippers (39-36)

6. Golden State (39-37)

Play-In Race

7. Minnesota (38-37)

8. New Orleans (37-37)

9. Los Angeles Lakers (37-38)

10. Oklahoma City (37-38)

11. Dallas (36-39)

12. Utah (35-39)

13. Portland (32-42)

Good luck trying to figure out the Western Conference playoff order.

The only certain thing right now is Dallas' struggles. The Mavs are 7-13 since the Kyrie Irving trade happened and have slid from fourth to 11th place.

There is real concern about Dallas even making the play-in. Despite the best efforts of Luka Dončić and Irving, the Mavs lost two straight games to the Hornets to fall behind other surging teams in the West.

The only good news right now for the Mavs is one night of results could completely flip the seven spots in front of them.

Dallas needs a winning record from its road trip against Indiana, Philadelphia, Miami and Atlanta to not be in full-blown panic mode by the time Sacramento arrives in town April 5.

The Mavs need some help from Sacramento on Monday against the Timberwolves to start making up some ground. The other game vital to the play-in race is when New Orleans visits Portland on Monday.

New Orleans should get a win in the Rose City since the Trail Blazers seem more content with shutting down their top players instead of making a last-ditch run at the No. 10 seed.

Portland's 1-8 record in the last nine has narrowed the play-in race to six teams for four spots. Utah, which hosts Phoenix on Monday, is also on the outside looking in with Dallas.

Unlike Dallas, Utah can make a massive impact on the play-in race with head-to-head wins. The Jazz have home games with the Lakers and Thunder on April 4 and 6.

The Lakers start a five-game road run in Chicago on Wednesday that includes games against Minnesota, Houston and Utah. They also play the Clippers as the road team in Los Angeles on April 5.

Minnesota and New Orleans are in the middle of road trips as well. The real winner over the next week could be Oklahoma City, which hosts Charlotte and Detroit on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A two-game winning streak is massive at this point of the season, and it could give OKC some safety while the other teams around it struggle or play each other.

There is a real chance that the play-in spots are decided on the final day of the regular season on April 9, when Minnesota hosts New Orleans and the Jazz visit the Lakers.

Dallas has to hope it can win a few games in the next week and for the teams above it to lose multiple games in order to get back in the playoff spots. Given the way it has played recently, it is hard to imagine that happening.

Seed Predictions

1. Denver

2. Memphis

3. Sacramento

4. Phoenix

5. Golden State

6. Los Angeles Clippers

7. Oklahoma City

8. Los Angeles Lakers

9. Minnesota

10. New Orleans