The Portland Trail Blazers will make their first post-season appearance since 2021, after attaining the no. 8 seed, as they completed against the Phoenix Suns at the Mortgage Match Up Center on April 14.
Deni Avdija scored 41 points and helped the Portland Trail Blazers win by 114-110. With an 11-point deficit in the last quarter, Avdija scored a three-pointer with 16.1 seconds remaining. It secured the Portland victory over the Suns in a play-in game on Tuesday.
They ended their four-year playoff drought and will open a best-of seven Western Conference playoff series against the No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs.
The Suns will get another chance to make the playoffs on Friday. They will play against the Wednesday’s winner of the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Coming back to the game, Jordan Goodwin sank a receive layup with 32.5 seconds remaining and put them up 110-109. However, he missed a free throw after being fouled. But Portland called for a timeout and set up Avdvija’s drive through the lane.
Jalen Green also missed a three-pointer with 8.9 seconds remaining. On the rebound, Matisse Thybulle stole the ball from Goodwin and found Jerami Grant along for a dunk at the last second.
Avdija scored 14 points in the last quarter and finished with 12 assists and seven rebounds. Jrue Holiday added 21 points, and Grant had 16.
The Suns trailed 83-82 as they entered the fourth quarter. However, they scored 11 points for a 10-point edge very early. Holiday and Avdija hit three pointers to close the deficit with 4:15 remaining.
Right after that, Donovan Clingan was called for a foul for pulling Brooks down on Avdija’s make. Then, Grant made a three-pointer, and Shaedon Sharpe hit two free throws. This brought the Trail Blazers to 105-104 with 2:29 seconds remaining.
Here is the final score of the game.
1 2 3 4 T POR 31 34 18 31 114 PHX 33 29 20 28 110
The quarter-wise scores show that Portland edged the Suns slightly in the second and fourth quarters to win the competitive game.
