Chris Paul and the Clippers will play Portland in the first round of the playoffs/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

When the Dallas Mavericks lost to short-handed San Antonio 96-91 on Wednesday night at Dallas, that meant the Clippers will play Portland in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, which begin this weekend. The Clippers will host the first two games at Staples Center.

San Antonio rested Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge and David West and still beat the Mavericks, who actually led 52-34 at halftime, then got outscored 62-39 in the second half.

Portland (43-38) was playing host to Denver on Wednesday night. The result of that game now does not matter as far as the Clippers are concerned.

Dallas finished 42-40 and will finish be either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed. If Memphis loses at Golden State on Wednesday night, the Grizzlies would finish at 42-40. However, Dallas owns the tiebreaker, so the Mavericks would be No. 6, Memphis No. 7.