Update: The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Brooklyn Nets 134-133 on Thursday night to clinch the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. The Blazers (35-39) will now advance to play the No. 9 Memphis Grizzlies (34-39) in a weekend play-in series to determine which team will take the West’s final playoff spot. Portland has to beat the Grizzlies just once to advance, while the Grizzlies must beat Portland twice to move on to the playoffs. The games are set for 11:30 a.m. PDT Saturday (TV on ABC) and, if necessary, 1:30 p.m. PDT Sunday (TV on ESPN).
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The Portland Trail Blazers began life at the NBA bubble trailing Memphis by 3 1/2 games for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Seven thrilling games later, Portland (34-39) sits in eighth place, a half-game ahead of the Grizzlies (33-39) with one game remaining.
The Blazers’ 134-131 win over seventh-place Dallas on Tuesday night not only put them into the pole position heading down the stretch, it prevented them from falling all the way to 11th behind Memphis, Phoenix (33-39) and San Antonio (32-38).
But Portland is not out of danger of falling out of the running just yet. Many scenarios remain that could leave the Blazers anywhere from eighth to 11th.
Portland wants to finish no lower than ninth to at least quality for the play-in round, but finishing eighth is significantly more advantageous.
The No. 8 team must defeat No. 9 just once in order to advance to the NBA playoffs whereas No. 9 must defeat No 8 twice in order to advance.
Here is Thursday’s lineup of remaining games that matter:
Memphis vs. Milwaukee, 1 p.m.
Phoenix vs. Dallas, 1 p.m. (TV on TNT)
San Antonio vs. Utah, 3:30 p.m. (TV on TNT)
Portland vs. Brooklyn, 6 p.m. (TV on TNT, NBC Sports Northwest)
Here is a look at the potential scenarios:
Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant (12) dribbles against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, July 31, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo via AP) APAP
PORTLAND
The Blazers will have know where they stand by the time they take the court.
Portland can finish eighth with a win over the Nets.
Portland could still finish eighth even following a loss to the Nets if the Spurs, Suns and Grizzlies all lose.
The Blazers would finish ninth with a loss only if two of the other three teams also lose.
A loss by Portland following wins by two of the other three contending teams would leave the Blazers on the outside looking in.
MEMPHIS
The Grizzlies can finish No. 8 with a win and a Portland loss.
Memphis would finish No. 9 with a win and a Portland win. Or, with a loss if both the Spurs and Suns also lose.
PHOENIX
The Suns are 7-0 in the bubble but started from way back, so they still need help to get in and must defeat Dallas to have any shot at all.
Phoenix can take over eighth place with a win over Dallas and losses by both Portland and Memphis.
Phoenix can finish ninth if it wins, while either Memphis or Portland lose.
SAN ANTONIO
The Spurs first must defeat Utah. Then, they could climb all the way to eighth if Portland, Phoenix and Memphis all lose.
The Spurs can finish ninth with a win coupled with two out of the other three teams also losing.
-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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