Blazers stun Suns

Portland is back in the playoffs after a 114-110 win over Phoenix on Tuesday night, and Deni Avdija drove it with 41 points in the play-in game. (nba.com) (apnews.com) Avdija finished with 41 points, 7 rebounds and 12 assists, and he put Portland ahead with a three-point play with 16.1 seconds left. Phoenix led by 11 in the fourth quarter before the Trail Blazers closed the game with a rally. (nba.com) (apnews.com) The result gave Portland the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and ended Phoenix’s first shot at locking up that spot. The Suns now drop into the Friday, April 17, elimination game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) (espn.com) That is a sharp turn for a Portland team that had missed the playoffs since 2021 and entered Tuesday needing one win to move out of the play-in bracket. It also puts the Trail Blazers into a first-round series against the No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs. (katu.com) (oregonlive.com) The play-in tournament is the National Basketball Association’s four-team qualifier for seeds seven and eight in each conference. The seventh-place team hosts the eighth-place team for the No. 7 seed, while the loser gets one more game against the winner of the ninth-versus-10th matchup. (nba.com) (espn.com) For Phoenix, the loss adds another game to a postseason path that looked simpler a few hours earlier. ESPN’s schedule listed Portland at Phoenix as the West 7-versus-8 play-in, with the winner advancing directly and the loser staying alive for Friday. (espn.com) For Portland, the immediate question is whether Tuesday’s late-game form carries into Sunday’s Game 1 in San Antonio. ESPN’s schedule lists Trail Blazers at Spurs for Sunday, April 19, at 6 p.m. Eastern time. (espn.com) The night will be remembered first for Avdija, who turned a win-or-keep-playing game into Portland’s cleanest path forward. One game after another is how play-in teams extend a season, and Portland just turned one April night into a playoff series. (nba.com) (espn.com)