The Los Angeles Lakers had their possibilities for a first round opponent go from four teams to two on Thursday night, as the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies punched their tickets to the Western Conference play-in series, which will begin on Saturday.
With Portland’s thrilling 134-133 win over the Brooklyn Nets, behind 42 points and 12 assists from Damian Lillard, they clinched the 8th seed in the Western Conference and also avoided losing out on the play-in altogether. The Memphis enter the series in 9th, meaning that they have to beat the Blazers on Saturday to force a Game 2 on Sunday, then beat them again to earn a trip to the first round to play against the Lakers. Game 1 will be on ABC at 11:30 p.m. Pacific/2:30 p.m. Eastern.
With the wins by Portland and Memphis, the Bubble cinderella Phoenix Suns, who finished with a perfect 8-0 record, will be going back home after a great two weeks of basketball.
No matter how long the play-in series takes, the Lakers will play the winner in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. Eastern.
