Decision day arrives for Suns, Blazers, Grizzlies and Spurs
LAKEBUENAVISTA,FLA.>> A team is going to reach the Western Conference playoffs with a losing record for the first time in 23 years, which ordinarily would not be exciting news.
This year, it’s the talk of the NBA.
And the race has come down to the last possible day.
Today, four teams — Portland, Memphis, Phoenix and San Antonio — will finally decide which two clubs get spots in the play-in series to determine the No. 8 seed in the West playoffs.
Portland and Memphis control their fates, while Phoenix and San Antonio must win and get help. The regular season ends Friday, but all four of the West playin contenders wrap up play and decide matters today.
“We can finally look at it,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “It’s our next step. We know we’re not totally in control of our fate, but we put ourselves in a good position. Nobody would have guessed the Phoenix Suns would have been in this position when all of this started.”
The Suns are 7-0 at the season restart, the darlings of the NBA bubble — but finishing the seeding games at 8-0 doesn’t even guarantee them a play-in spot. Phoenix plays Dallas in a 1 p.m. game, the same time as a matchup between Memphis and Milwaukee.
San Antonio faces Utah at 3:30 p.m., and Portland plays Brooklyn at 6 p.m. In potentially bad news for the Spurs — who are bidding to be the first team in NBA history to make 23 consecutive playoff appearances — the Mavericks, Bucks and Nets are all locked into their various postseason spots and have nothing at stake.
“The way things have been down the stretch for these games, as tight as it’s been, it’s been pretty exciting,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said.
Memphis guard Ja Morant, when asked by ESPN last month if the play-in tournament format was fair, said “honestly, I don’t think so.” That’s when the Grizzlies had a 3-1/2 game lead on Portland for eighth place; that lead is all gone now.
Portland goes into the final day of the West race a half-game up on Memphis, which is technically ninth because it holds the headto-head tiebreaker with 10th-place Phoenix. San Antonio, in 11th, is also just a half-game back of Portland.
The play-in series between the eighth- and ninth-place teams after today’s games begins Saturday; the No. 9 team must win Saturday and Sunday to advance, the No. 8 team has to win just once.
At stake: A matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers in a West first-round series. ‘CASUAL RELATIONSHIP’ VIS
ITORS BANNED IN BUBBLE >> When conference semifinals begin in the 2020 NBA playoffs, spouses and families will be permitted in the bubble. The NBA, however, is looking to set guidelines for player guests that fall into the “other” classification, such as girlfriends and recent acquaintances.
A memo from the NBA and NBPA outlines what the league will tolerate as a significant other.
It will preclude players from hosting guests considered casual in nature, including “known by the player only through social media or an intermediary,” according to the memo obtained by ESPN. Players must prove a longstanding relationship with a nonspouse.
While friends and family will be defined in greater clarity, per the memo, those prohibited in the NBA bubble include agents, chefs, trainers and tattoo artists.
Once in the bubble, family members must quarantine and then agree to follow the same restrictions applied to players and staff. There is no allowance for leaving the campus.
Players will receive one ticket per guest per playoff game.
ANTETOKOUNMPO SUSPENDED A GAME >> Giannis Antetokounmpo has been suspended for Milwaukee’s final game of the regular season, handed a onegame penalty Wednesday for headbutting Washington’s Moe Wagner.
It’s unknown if Antetokounmpo would have played in Thursday’s game against Memphis anyway, given that the Bucks have already secured the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs that start next week.
CELTICS SIGN COACH STEVENS TO EXTENSION >> The Boston Celtics signed head coach Brad Stevens to a contract extension, the team announced. No terms were announced. Stevens had previously been under contract through the 202122 season.
MCMILLAN GETS CONTRACT EXTENSION >> Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan has agreed to a contract extension. McMillan had one year remaining on his previous deal.
McMillan has a record
of 181-136 in four seasons and needs one more win to break a tie with Rick Carlisle for third in career victories during the franchise’s NBA history. The Pacers have gone to the playoffs each season McMillan has been in charge but Indiana has not advanced beyond the first round since 2014. LATEST TESTING NUMBERS
REVEAL NO CONFIRMED POSITIVES>> The NBA still has not had a confirmed coronavirus case among players inside the season-restart bubble at Walt Disney World. The league released updated numbers Wednesday showing that none of the 342 players who were tested daily since the league last released results on Aug. 5 has had a confirmed positive.
PACERS 108, ROCKETS 104 >> Myles Turner had 18 points, reserve Edmond Sumner added a seasonhigh 17 and Indiana held off a late rally by Houston and James Harden to break a five-game losing streak to the Rockets.
It looked as if the Pacers had locked up the win when they went up 104-90 with 5:05 remaining. That’s when Harden got Houston going, cutting it to 106-104 on with a driving basket with 27 seconds to go.
Harden had 11 of Houston’s 14 points during the surge. Harden had 45 points and tied his career high with 17 rebounds. He came an assist shy of his fifth triple-double this season. It was Harden’s 21st game this season with 40 points or more.
RAPTORS 125, 76ERS 121 >> Stanley Johnson scored the tiebreaking basket in the lane with 4.9 seconds remaining, giving Toronto a victory over Philadelphia that made a winner of Adrian Griffin.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse let his assistant coach run the team and they responded with a late run from the bottom of their bench to improve to 6-1 in the restart.
Kyle Lowry and Chris Boucher each scored 19 points for the Raptors.
Tobias Harris scored 22 points and Furkan Korkmaz had 21 for the 76ers, who became locked into the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, securing a first-round matchup against Boston. The Raptors’ series against Brooklyn is set.