This weekend, two teams will square off for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoff picture. The NBA adopted a unique format for its Bubble in Orlando based on the fact that several teams were within striking distance of the 8-seed across both conferences, one which raised the possibility for play-in tournaments.
In the Eastern Conference, the only squad with a shot of disrupting the postseason order, the Washington Wizards, went 1-7 and wasn’t able to make any sort of move. But in the West, things came down to the final games for several teams, and by the time the dust was settled late on Thursday night, the Portland Trail Blazers had the 8-seed, the Memphis Grizzlies secured the 9-seed, and the Phoenix Suns found themselves on the outside looking in.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for absolutely wonderful Suns, which went 8-0 in the Bubble, but now, the Blazers and Grizzlies will square off with an opportunity to take on the Los Angeles Lakers on the line. The two squads have faced off already in the Bubble, when Damian Lillard and co. knocked off Ja Morant’s squad, 140-135, in an overtime thriller to kick off both of their Bubble slates.
As the 8-seed, Portland gets a significant advantage in the proceedings: They only need to beat Memphis one time in order to secure their spot in the postseason. However, that’s not as fun as the 9-seed winning the first game the two sides play on Saturday afternoon. Should that happen, a second game will tip off on Sunday and act as a winner-take-all contest for the final spot in the postseason. It’s a fun twist on things, and while the Blazers have an advantage by nature of only having to win once, the Grizzlies are absolutely capable of going all-out for two games and winning them both.
Game one in this potential series tips off on 2:30 p.m. EST on Sat, Aug. 15 on ABC. Should a second game be necessary, the two teams will square off a day later at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN. The winner of the series will begin their first-round tilt against the Lakers on Tuesday evening.
