Who will get the 8th seed out west?

In the Western Conference, everyone is trying to avoid the 8th seed and first round matchup against the Lakers. As a Jazz fan, this is especially important to me because I think the Jazz could beat anyone with the exception of the Lakers. Let's take a look at the 3 teams fighting it out not to get the 8 seed

Standings

6. New Orleans 49-31

7. Dallas 48-32

8. Utah 47-33

*The Jazz have the tiebreaker over both teams and New Orleans has the tiebreaker over Dallas

Here is the remaining schedule

Utah

vs. LA Clippers

@ LA Lakers

Dallas

vs. Minnesota

vs. Houston

New Orleans

@ Houston

@ San Antonio

This should be an interesting finish to the season. The Jazz should beat the Clippers and the Mavericks should beat Minnesota. The one team that many people do not realize is involved in this race is the Cleveland Cavaliers. If the Cavaliers win tonight, the Lakers will have no reason to play their starters because the Cavs would have clinched home court advantage for the entire NBA playoffs. This would obviously be a huge plus for the Jazz when they play @LA the last game of the year. If the Jazz can win the last 2 games, all they will need is the Mavericks to lose to the Rockets or New Orleans to lose to Houston and San Antonio. Even though seeding doesn't normally matter, any of these 3 teams can win a first round series, as long as they don't have to play the Lakers.