Grizzlies loss guarantees West play-in series

It’s now official: There will be a play-in series to determine the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies’ 108-99 loss to the Raptors on Sunday at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida means that it’s no longer possible for more than a four-game difference in the standings between the eighth- and ninth-place finishers in the West when the seeding game schedule ends later this week.

By the rules the NBA set for the restart, there had to be more than a four-game cushion for the No. 8 team to get the final playoff spot outright. The league decided to add the play-in series option out of fairness, since about 14% of the regular-season schedule was eliminated due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Grizzlies remains alone in eighth, even after Sunday’s loss. No team has clinched a spot in the play-in series; the Grizzlies could have assured themselves of no worse than that had they beaten the Raptors on Sunday.

Game 1 of the play-in series will be Saturday, with Game 2 — if necessary — the following day, Aug. 16. To advance and face the top-seeded Lakers in the first round, the eighthplace team will have to win one of the two games and the ninth-place finisher would have to go 2-0.

There will be no play-in series in the East.

The league fined Warriors All-Star F Draymond Green $50,000 for his suggestion about Devin Booker’s future during an appearance Saturday as an analyst for TNT. Green said of the Suns guard: “Get my man out of Phoenix. It’s not good for him. It’s not good for his career.” Asked on-air if he was tampering, Green replied, “maybe.” ... Hall of Famer Paul Westphal has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Sports columnist Mike Lupica, a friend of Westphal’s, said in a Tweet that the former player and coach has glioblastoma. Westphal, 69, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year. Westphal, who won an NBA title with the Celtics, was a four-time All-Star. After his playing days, Westphal coached the Suns to the NBA Finals.

Golf: Five shots behind with six holes to play, Danielle Kang won her second straight LPGA Tour event when Lydia Ko took double bogey on the final hole of the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio. Kang shot a final-round 3-under 68 to finish at 15-under 269. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (67) and Ko (73) tied for second. Ko, the former world No. 1, hasn’t won in two years . ... California teen Rose Zhang won the longest U.S. Women’s Amateur title match in 54 years, denying Gabriela Ruffels a repeat victory when the 20-year-old Australia who plays at USC missed a 3-foot par putt on the 38th hole at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland.

Soccer: Two members of Atletico Madrid’s group set to travel to Portugal this week for the Champions League quarterfinals tested positive for the coronavirus.

Tennis: Fiona Ferro of France upset fourth-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-2, 7-5 in the Palermo Ladies Open final to win the first tour-level tennis event in five months. It was the 23-year-old Ferro’s second WTA title.