Trail Blazers positioned to face Suns in play-in tournament after win over Clippers
The Trail Blazers are a win over the lowly Kings away from facing the Suns in the play-in tournament on Tuesday at Mortgage Matchup Center.
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The Portland Trail Blazers are a win over the lowly Sacramento Kings away from facing the Phoenix Suns in the play-in tournament on Tuesday at Mortgage Matchup Center.
The Blazers (41-40) defeated the Los Angeles Clippers (41-40) in a pseudo playoff game on Friday night in Portland to move into the eighth seed, capturing the tiebreaker with one game left in the regular season.
The only way Los Angeles can retake the eighth seed is if it defeats the Golden State Warriors on Sunday while the Blazers fall to the 22-59 Kings.
Phoenix (44-37) already clinched the seventh seed in the play-in tournament on Wednesday.
The Suns won two of three games played against Portland this season, having last matched up on Feb. 22.
The Blazers won that most recent game, 92-77, although Portland All-Star Deni Avdija played one minute while Suns stalwarts Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks were both out. Booker has not played the Blazers since November.
Portland led Los Angeles by 20 points in the first half on Friday, but the Clippers came back to take a two-point lead. The Blazers regained control of the game in the fourth quarter (30-13), and Avdija scored 35 points in the victory.
The 7-8 play-in game will tip off on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MST on Prime Video. Whichever team wins will take on the two-seed San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Whichever team loses will host a win-or-go-home matchup against the winner of the 9-10 play-in game on Friday at home.
This will be the first time the Suns have participated in the play-in tournament, which was fully implemented in 2021.
The Suns have one more regular season game on Sunday on the road at the Oklahoma City Thunder with no stakes for seeding.
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Comments
12 Comments
I hate to be the one bringing bad news, but with their lack of size and injuries , I don’t see this version of the Suns making it out of the play-in games.
Another losing season if we can't win a play in game. Oh well, it's off to the NFL draft so the Cardinals can lose that to.
Why do teams like the Blazers get players like Toumani Camara -- why can't the Suns get guys like this?
lol