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NBA Playoffs 2012: San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder Continue Race For Top Seed

The Los Angeles Lakers welcomed Kobe Bryant back after seven games on Friday night, but it wasn't enough to overcome the top team in the Western Conference. The San Antonio Spurs beat the Lakers 121-97 Friday night, putting a damper on the Lakers' hopes to clinch the Pacific Division.

The Lakers still have a magic number of two to clinch their fifth straight division title, while the Clippers have a magic number of four to do the same.

The two best teams in the Western Conference, the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, both won Friday night, with the Thunder winning 103-92 in Sacramento. Here are the Western Conference standings through Friday:

NBA Western Conference Standings
Seed Team W-L Pct GB Remaining Games
1 San Antonio (w)
46-16 .742 --- 2 home / 2 road
2 Oklahoma City (w)
46-17 .730 ½ 2 home / 1 road
3 Lakers (l)
40-24 .625 7 1 home / 1 road
4 Clippers 39-24 .619 1 home / 2 road
5 Memphis 37-25 .597 9 3 home / 1 road
6 Dallas (w)
36-28 .563 11 0 home / 2 road
7 Denver 34-28 .548 12 1 home / 3 road
8 Phoenix 33-30 .524 13½ 2 home / 1 road
8 Utah 33-30 .524 13½ 3 home / 0 road
10 Houston 32-31 .508 14½ 2 home / 1 road
Through games of April 20

Here are the relevant games on Saturday's schedule:

2:30 p.m. - Denver at Phoenix

5 p.m. - Dallas at Chicago

5 p.m. - Golden State at Houston

5 p.m. - Portland at Memphis

7:30 p.m. - Orlando at Utah

For more news and notes on Lakers basketball, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll. For all your Clippers information, be sure to read Clips Nation.