Trail Blazers grab No. 8
Portland beat Sacramento 122‑110 to move into the No. 8 seed positioning as the play‑in window opened. (x.com). That result places Portland into the play‑in/first‑round mix and shapes their short‑term postseason path. ( ).
Portland entered the National Basketball Association play-in as the Western Conference’s No. 8 team after beating Sacramento 122-110 on Sunday, April 12. (espn.com) The win pushed the Trail Blazers to 42-40, while Sacramento finished 22-60. Deni Avdija led Portland with 25 points and 10 assists, and Jrue Holiday added 23 points in the clincher. (espn.com) The No. 8 slot matters because the National Basketball Association’s play-in tournament gives seeds No. 7 and No. 8 two chances to reach the first round. Portland’s first game is against No. 7 Phoenix, while No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers face No. 10 Golden State for the other survival game in the West. (nba.com) Under the league’s format, the winner of the No. 7 versus No. 8 game becomes the conference’s No. 7 playoff seed. The loser gets one more game against the winner of No. 9 versus No. 10 for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) That setup leaves Portland one win from a first-round series and gives the club a margin for error that the No. 9 and No. 10 teams do not have. The Western Conference bracket on Tuesday listed the Trail Blazers in the No. 8 line opposite Phoenix in the opening play-in game. (nba.com; covers.com) Portland closed the regular season tied at 42-40 with the Los Angeles Clippers, but the final standings placed the Trail Blazers eighth and the Clippers ninth. The league standings page marked Portland with a clinched play-in berth at the end of the regular season. (espn.com; nba.com) The result keeps Portland in the postseason mix after an 82-game regular season that ended Sunday, April 12, and sends Sacramento into the lottery after a 22-60 finish. The Trail Blazers now need either one win over Phoenix or a second-chance win later in the week to reach the official 16-team playoff field. (espn.com; nba.com)
