Update (Aug. 11)
Spurs Start Tuesday Off With A Win
All four teams in contention for the Western Conference Play-In are in action on Tuesday as each team plays the first of their final two seeding games.
The San Antonio Spurs were the first team to take the court on Tuesday and earned a much-needed 123-105 win over the Houston Rockets behind 47 combined points from DeMar DeRozan and Keldon Johnson to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Play-In alive.
The win moves the Spurs back ahead of Phoenix for the No. 10 spot in standings and puts the pressure on the Suns to keep pace when they face Philadelphia this afternoon (4:30 ET)
Current Standings and Clinching/Elimination Scenarios following San Antonio’s Win
8. Memphis: 33-38 (.465)
- Tuesday vs. Boston, 5:00 ET
- Clinches a play-in game with a win
9. Portland: 33-39 (.458), 0.5 GB
- Tuesday vs, Dallas, 6:30 ET, TNT
- No clinching or elimination scenario on Tuesday after San Antonio win
10. San Antonio: 32-38 (.457), 0.5 GB
- Tuesday: W vs. Houston 123-105
- Avoided any chance of elimination on Tuesday with win
11. Phoenix: 32-39 (.451) 1.0 GB
- Tuesday vs. Philadelphia, 4:30 ET
- Eliminated with a loss AND a Portland win
Update (Aug. 10)
Suns Stay Hot, Rise to 10th in Play-In Race
The Phoenix Suns remain unbeaten in the restart as they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, 128-101, to improve to 6-0 in Orlando and 32-39 on the season.
After losing the opening quarter 37-23 and trailing by as many as 15 points, the Suns outscored the Thunder 105-64 in the final three periods to earn the all-important victory. Devin Booker led all players with 35 points as six Suns finished in double figures.
The win vaults the Suns over the Spurs for 10th in the race for the Western Conference Play-In. The Suns and Spurs are both one game behind Memphis for No. 8 and a half-game back of Portland for No. 9, but Phoenix gets the edge over San Antonio due to a slight edge in win percentage.
While games back was the focus to determine whether or not a Play-In would be needed, now the focus must shift to win percentage as it is the determining factor for the final standings. Of the four teams in contention, only Memphis and Phoenix will have played the same amount of games at season’s end (73); Portland will have played 74 and San Antonio will have played only 71.
This puts the Spurs in a tough spot as they are essentially tied with the Suns in terms of games back, but because Phoenix has played two additional games and has one more win and one more loss on their record than San Antonio, their win percentage is .002 better.
The Suns were the only one of the contending teams in action on Monday, so now all four teams have two games remaining over the next three days to determine which two will face off in the Western Conference Play-In for the No. 8 seed and a first round meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Update (Aug. 9)
Blazers Win Eliminates Pelicans and Kings
Earlier on Sunday, a Play-In was officially guaranteed by Memphis’ loss to Toronto. Now the number of teams vying for those two Play-In spots has been reduced from six to four as New Orleans and Sacramento were eliminated by Portland’s win over Philadelphia. That leaves No. 8 Memphis, No. 9 Portland, No. 10 San Antonio and No. 11 Phoenix all within 1.5 games of each other five days remaining before the Play-In.
Damian Lillard finished with 51 points – his fifth 50-point game of the season, tying him with James Harden for most in the NBA this season – to lead the Blazers to a 124-121 over the Sixers. With the win, the Blazers climb within a half-game of Memphis for the No. 8 spot and hold a half-game lead of the Spurs for the No. 9 spot. Phoenix was not in action on Sunday and sits one game back of Portland for No. 9 and 1.5 games back of Memphis for No. 8.
The Grizzlies, Blazers and Spurs all have two games remaining, while the Suns have three games left (they are the only team in action on Monday) in order to secure one of the two spots in the Play-In, with added emphasis on holding the No. 8 spot at the end of the seeding games. In the Play-In, the No. 8 seed only needs to win one game, while the No. 9 seed needs to win two games in order to clinch the playoff berth.
Play-In Series Guaranteed Out West
With Memphis’ 108-99 loss to Toronto on Sunday, there is no way that there will be a four-game difference between the eighth and ninth place finishers at the end of the seeding games, thus guaranteeing that a play-in will be required to determine the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.
The play-in will tip off on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 2:30 ET and will be broadcast on ABC. If the eighth seed team wins Saturday’s matchup, that team will advance to the playoffs. If the ninth seed wins, a second game will be played on ESPN on Sunday, Aug. 16 at 4:30 ET.
The teams that will participate in that play-in are still to be determined as every game involving the teams from Nos. 8-13 has major implications.
San Antonio defeated New Orleans, 122-113, on Sunday afternoon in a head-to-head matchup of two play-in contenders. The win moves the Spurs up to No. 10 in the standings at 31-38, just one game behind No. 8 Memphis (33-38) and even with No. 9 Portland (32-39) in terms of games back of Memphis, but trailing the Blazers slightly in win percentage.
