We love being the underdog. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. We needed to work on that because he’s such a floor spacer,” Rivers said. 9 seed, they would need to beat the Grizzlies twice in two games to earn the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, earning them a chance to face the Los Angeles Lakers, who locked up the top seed.NBA standings: Blazers-Nets decide Suns’ play-in chances If the Nets pull the upset, the Grizzlies become the eight seed and the Suns would jump to the nine seed. The Suns would have to be within 4.0 games of the eighth seed to earn a play-in opportunity, and the Grizzlies sat 6.0 games ahead of them when play in the bubble began.Memphis lost its first four games and starting power forward Jaren Jackson Jr. before picking up two wins in the final four outings to hold off the surging Suns and others heading into the final day.The Blazers face the Nets looking to hold off a Brooklyn team hit by injuries and opt-outs but with a surprising 5-2 record in the bubble.Because teams played an unequal number of games before the coronavirus suspended the season, the first tiebreakers for teams will be winning percentage. All Phoenix entered the bubble as a playoff afterthought, so far back of Memphis — and with so many teams between them — that They were. “The challenge will be just how ready he is. The Blazers, Suns, Spurs and Grizzlies are still battling for two spots in the play-in round, with the winner of that going on to face the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. But I think it won’t be as hard as you might think because there’s a lot riding on these games. Portland and Memphis meet Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (Eastern) in Game 1 of the Western Conference play-in series. nThe challenge with big-name replacements in New Orleans is money — this is the smallest market in the NBA and ownership has been hit hard by the economic slowdown in the wake of the coronavirus. 8 seed in the play-in round.Phoenix and Memphis winning simultaneously eliminated the San Antonio Spurs from making the play-in round.Before going 8-0 at Disney World, the Suns entered Orlando needing to make up 2.5 games on the ninth seed to earn a play-in spot, but Phoenix needed to surpass the Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans and Kings. The Suns would have to be within 4.0 games of the eighth seed to earn a play-in opportunity, and the Memphis Grizzlies sat 6.0 games ahead of them when play in the Disney World bubble began. If Portland wins against Brooklyn on Thursday night, it will hold the No. That is what our fans deserve.”Clippers lead assistant Tyronn Lue and Lakers lead assistant Jason Kidd — two veteran coaches who are considered player-friendly — were mentioned as potential replacements by ESPN and Marc Stein of the New York Times. He will always be a part of our Pelicans family, and we wish him and his family all the best in the future. That means if Portland loses, Phoenix will be the No. We know that we’ve got a tough opponent in Memphis, so there was no time to really celebrate.”Had the Blazers lost any of their last three games, they could be home already. Memphis Grizzlies; Portland Trail Blazers; Sports - General; San Antonio Spurs; San Antonio; Sports; Basketball; NBA; Phoenix Suns; Monty Williams; Decision Day arrives for Suns, Blazers, Grizzlies and Spurs. Lillard has scored 51, 61 and 42 points, respectively, in those three games — and had to sweat out a last-second shot by Brooklyn in a one-point Portland win on Thursday night that determined their play-in fate.“I think mentally I’ll be fine,” Lillard said. A win Thursday clinches a spot in the West play-in. The Suns didn’t do enough of that before the coronavirus shut down the NBA for four months.No team entered the NBA restart bubble in Orlando with the Saturday New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry paid the price for that and was fired, “I want to thank Alvin for his contributions to the Pelicans and the New Orleans community,” Pelicans Owner Gayle Benson said in a statement. Another name to watch is current Rockets’ coach Mike D’Antoni, who is not expected to be brought back with the Rockets and favors the kind of up-tempo system that would suit Zion.