For the first time in league history, the NBA will have the play-in tournament for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. In a few hours, the Portland Trail Blazers will face the Memphis Grizzlies in their fight for the playoffs. The Blazers fought off the Nets in their last seeding game to finish eighth. On the other hand, the Grizzlies somehow managed to beat the Bucks to steal the ninth seed from the undefeated Suns.

Format for Play-In Tournament

The Grizzlies held the eight seed for a long time but towards the end of the seeding games, they slipped and the spirited Blazers took advantage. Since the Blazers are the eighth seed they hold an advantage. Out of a maximum of three games of the play-in tournament, the Blazers only have to win once. But the ninth seed Grizzlies will need two wins to advance to the playoffs.

Can the Portland Trail Blazers win again?

The Blazers’ first seeding game was against the Grizzlies. It was an overtime thriller that ended in the Blazers’ favor. CJ McCollum was the hero for the Blazers, as he scored 33 points, as he took 21 shots and missed just seven times. The Grizzlies never gave up and battled until the end. They were led by Jaren Jackson Jr who also scored 33 points.

Sadly for the Grizzlies, they will be without Jackson Jr after he suffered a meniscus tear. That has ruled him out for the rest of the season, further adding to the Grizzlies injury list. Justice Winslow suffered a hip injury during the scrimmage and Tyus Jones had been suffering from knee soreness. While Winslow will not return, Jones is listed as doubtful for the clash against the Blazers and could potentially play his first minutes in the bubble.

The Blazers don’t have any injuries except McCollum, who has been playing with a back injury since the start of the seeding games. Despite that, he has shown his determination and is averaging almost 41 minutes in the eight games so far. Being the second most important player for the Blazers, they will hope his injury doesn’t get worse.

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As it stands, a Blazers victory is imminent. Damian Lillard is averaging over 50 points in his last three games and has been leading by example. They are currently on a three-game win streak and have lost only twice in the bubble.

The Grizzlies have had opposite fortunes. They have won just twice, and have been poor throughout. Ja Morant has been very inconsistent and is shooting poorly, going 39% from the field, and just 22% from three. Jackson not playing just makes it worse for them.

The Blazers will be hoping to finish off the play-in today, so they are able to get some much-needed rest before they go on to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.