Assuming the Trail Blazers can win their final regular-season game against the Sacramento Kings at home on Sunday, Portland will be the eighth seed heading into the Play-In Tournament. If that is indeed the case, the Blazers will head to Phoenix to face the 7th-seeded Suns on Tuesday. The winner of that matchup will advance to the postseason with a difficult series against the San Antonio Spurs.
Friday's 116-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers provided a huge boost for Portland's playoff chances, as they now have another lifeline if needed. Should Portland lose to Phoenix, they'd get another chance at making the playoffs with a home game against the winner of the 9/10 winner-goes-home matchup between the Clippers and Golden State Warriors -- two teams Portland has fared well against this season.
That's why this win over Los Angeles was the most important contest in the Blazers entire rebuild, as they suddenly have a legitimate shot at the postseason.
Blazers boost playoff chances with huge win over Clippers
The Blazers and Clippers split the regular-season series 2-2, but Portland holds the tiebreaker due to its conference record. Quite the comeback for a team that was not only down 0-2 in that head-to-head series, but also started the season 23-28.
After the 2024-25 season, Blazers general manager Joe Cronin called making the playoffs a "reasonable expectation" for next year. That didn't go to plan early on, as Portland's end-of-season momentum from last season was derailed by injuries. Scoot Henderson was hurt before the season could even start.
But fortunately, it's a long season. Portland is getting healthier and trending upwards at the perfect time. We've finally seen Cronin's vision for this roster come to fruition over the past month or so, and it's resulted in them knocking on the doorstep of a postseason appearance, which would end a four-year drought.
Friday night was the first real test for the Blazers' young core as it felt like a legitimate playoff game, given the stakes and atmosphere. There's still work to be done, but overall, this team absolutely rose to the occasion. Deni Avdija had a career-high 16 points in the first quarter, immediately addressing any concerns about how he'd fare in this type of environment.
It's a good experience for the entire Blazers roster, as the vast majority of their players haven't been in these playoff situations. Regardless of the outcome, the Blazers will finally be battle-tested to a degree heading into next season.
Games like this are invaluable for their development, but a real playoff series against a team like San Antonio would be even better for that growth.