Blazers Clinch Playoffs
The Portland Trail Blazers secured the West’s No. 7 seed and clinched a playoff spot with a 114–110 win over the Phoenix Suns on April 14 — a result framed as an immediate postseason advance in highlight packages. CBS Sports’ updated bracket shows Portland locked into a first‑round matchup, and the game’s official highlight reel captures the late moments fans are replaying. ( )
Portland beat Phoenix 114-110 on Tuesday night to take the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed and move straight into the National Basketball Association playoffs. (apnews.com) Deni Avdija scored 41 points, and the Trail Blazers erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit in the SoFi Play-In Tournament game in Phoenix. Avdija’s go-ahead three-point play came with 16.1 seconds left. (apnews.com) Jalen Green added 35 points for Portland, and the National Basketball Association’s official game summary listed Avdija with a 41-point, 7-rebound, 12-assist line. Phoenix got 35 points from Green’s Suns counterpart in the scoring summary, but the late lead disappeared. (nba.com, espn.com) The play-in format gives the No. 7 and No. 8 teams one game for the seventh playoff spot. The winner advances immediately, while the loser gets one more game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com, cbssports.com) That result locked Portland into a first-round series against the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs. CBS Sports’ updated bracket and the league standings both showed Portland as the West’s seventh seed on April 15. (cbssports.com, espn.com) The Suns were not eliminated by Tuesday’s loss. Under the format, Phoenix stays alive and moves to the final play-in game for the eighth seed against the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors matchup. (nba.com, espn.com) Portland finished the regular season 42-40, eighth in the West before the play-in, while Phoenix finished 45-37 and seventh. The win flipped those positions in the bracket at the only moment that mattered. (espn.com, espn.com) The Trail Blazers missed the playoffs in 2025 after finishing 36-46 and 12th in the West. One year later, they are back in the bracket and opening a best-of-seven series on April 18. (basketball-reference.com, nba.com) The late sequence is already being replayed in the official highlight package, which centers on Portland’s fourth-quarter comeback and Avdija’s closing bucket. By the end of Tuesday night, the play-in label was gone and Portland had a playoff opponent. (youtube.com, cbssports.com)
