Trail Blazers clinch West 7
The Portland Trail Blazers edged the Phoenix Suns 121-119 to claim the Western Conference No. 7 seed and will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. (usatoday.com)
Portland beat Phoenix 114-110 on Tuesday night to grab the Western Conference’s No. 7 playoff seed and end the Suns’ first shot at a first-round berth. (nba.com) Deni Avdija drove the comeback with 41 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds on 15-of-22 shooting, then put Portland ahead for good in the final minute. Jrue Holiday added 21 points, and Jerami Grant’s late dunk sealed the final margin. (nba.com, espn.com) Phoenix led by eight with 3:11 left and got 35 points from Jalen Green, but Portland closed on a late surge and held off the Suns’ final possession. The game was played at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix in the National Basketball Association’s SoFi Play-In Tournament. (nba.com, nba.com) The play-in gives teams that finish seventh through 10th a path into the playoffs, with the No. 7 and No. 8 teams meeting for the higher seed. Tuesday’s winner moved straight into the bracket, while the loser stayed alive for one more elimination game. (nba.com, nba.com) Portland entered the night as the West’s No. 8 team at 42-40, while Phoenix finished the regular season 45-37 as the No. 7 team. The result flipped those positions for the postseason and sent the Trail Blazers into a first-round series against No. 2 San Antonio. (nba.com, espn.com, basketball-reference.com) That matchup puts Portland against one of the league’s best regular-season teams. San Antonio finished 62-20, and the National Basketball Association’s published bracket lists Game 1 for Sunday, April 19. (basketball-reference.com, nba.com) For Portland, the win also snaps a longer wait. The Trail Blazers had not reached the playoffs since 2021, and they had not won a playoff series since 2019, according to the game preview posted before tipoff. (nba.com) Phoenix is not out yet. The Suns will host the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors play-in game on Friday, with the last Western Conference playoff spot still available. (nba.com, nba.com) The standings made Tuesday urgent for both sides: Portland finished six games behind Minnesota in the regular season, and Phoenix finished three games ahead of Portland, but one night in the play-in reset the order. The Trail Blazers now move on, and the Suns have one game left to keep their season alive. (basketball-reference.com, nba.com)
