West: Suns, Clippers, Warriors
In the Western bracket, Phoenix hosts Portland at Footprint Center on Tuesday while the Los Angeles Clippers host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday — Golden State finished the regular season as the No. 10 seed and the Clippers as No. 9. ( )
Phoenix and Portland will open the Western Conference play-in on Tuesday, April 14, with the winner taking the No. 7 playoff seed. (nba.com) The Suns finished 45-37 and the Trail Blazers finished 42-40, according to the final National Basketball Association standings. Phoenix hosts the game at Footprint Center, listed on the team schedule as a 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time tip. (nba.com; nba.com) The other Western play-in game is Wednesday, April 15, when the No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers host the No. 10 Golden State Warriors at Intuit Dome. The Warriors said the game tips at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time and Prime Video will carry the national broadcast. (nba.com; nba.com) The play-in is a four-team bracket for seeds seven through 10 in each conference. The No. 7 and No. 8 teams play for the seventh seed, while the No. 9 and No. 10 teams play an elimination game. (nba.com) That setup leaves Phoenix and Portland with two chances to reach the playoffs and leaves the Clippers and Warriors with none to spare. The National Basketball Association schedule lists Friday, April 17, for the final Western play-in game that decides the No. 8 seed. (nba.com; nba.com) Golden State’s own announcement says the winner of Clippers-Warriors will travel to face the loser of Suns-Trail Blazers on Friday. The winner of that Friday game moves into the Western Conference bracket as the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) The Clippers landed in ninth at 42-40, one spot behind Portland, while Golden State closed at 37-45 in 10th. The standings page also notes that playoff ties are broken first by head-to-head record in two-team ties. (nba.com) The play-in tournament runs April 14 through April 17, and the first round of the playoffs starts April 18. By the end of Wednesday night, one Western team will be out and one more will be one win from the bracket. (nba.com; nba.com)
