West play‑in map

The Western Conference play-in bracket is locked: Phoenix hosts Portland on Tuesday, and the Los Angeles Clippers host Golden State on Wednesday. (nba.com) The National Basketball Association’s official bracket lists Phoenix as the No. 7 seed, Portland No. 8, the Clippers No. 9 and Golden State No. 10 after games on Sunday, April 12. (nba.com) Tuesday’s Suns-Trail Blazers game starts at 10 p.m. Eastern time, and the winner takes the West’s No. 7 playoff seed. Wednesday’s Clippers-Warriors game also starts at 10 p.m. Eastern time, and the loser is eliminated. (nba.com) The play-in works as a two-step bracket for seeds seven through 10. The 7-8 winner goes straight into the playoffs, while the 7-8 loser gets one more game against the 9-10 winner for the No. 8 seed on Friday, April 17. (nba.com) That makes Sunday’s late results the key to the map. Portland beat Sacramento 122-110 to secure the No. 8 seed, while the Clippers beat Golden State 115-110 to secure No. 9 and set an immediate rematch with the Warriors. (nba.com) The Clippers and Trail Blazers both finished 42-40, but Portland won the tiebreaker on better Western Conference record. That pushed Los Angeles down to ninth and sent Portland to Phoenix instead. (nba.com) Golden State finished 37-45 and had already clinched the No. 10 seed before Sunday’s finale. The Warriors’ team site said the club would face the lower-seeded team between the Clippers and Trail Blazers once the last standings spot was settled. (nba.com) Now the path is fixed: the Clippers-Warriors winner travels to face the Suns-Trail Blazers loser on Friday for the West’s final playoff berth. The winners of the Tuesday and Friday games move into a bracket where Oklahoma City is the No. 1 seed and San Antonio is No. 2. (nba.com)