Sports
NBA Playoffs 2020: Grizzlies vs. Blazers Play-in Game Schedule, Live Stream
Kim Klement/Associated PressThe Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies will face off in the NBA’s first-ever “play-in tournament” to decide the eighth and final Western Conference playoff participant.The first (and potentially only) game will take place on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida. ABC will be…
Kim Klement/Associated Press
The Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies will face off in the NBA‘s first-ever “play-in tournament” to decide the eighth and final Western Conference playoff participant.
The first (and potentially only) game will take place on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida. ABC will be the television home for the matchup, which can be live streamed on WatchESPN.
If the Blazers win, they'll assume the eighth seed and face the first-place Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs beginning Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.
If the Grizzlies win, Memphis and Portland will play another matchup on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET to decide the eighth and final Western Conference playoff participant. ESPN would broadcast that one.
Below you can take a look at how both teams got here in the lead-up to their pivotal Saturday matchup.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies, a rebuilding team based around an early-20s core of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., were not expected to contend for a playoff berth, especially after the Grizz went just 33-49 the year before.
The future assuredly looked bright with Morant, the 2020 draft's No. 2 overall pick, running the show, but anything resembling a top-eight pick seemed far-fetched.
Morant and crew defied expectations, however, as they went 32-33 before the NBA was suspended for four-plus month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mike Ehrmann/Associated Press
Morant cruised to what should be a Rookie of the Year award with 17.8 points, 7.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game, and Jackson continued to improve off a promising rookie campaign with 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
But the X-factor may have been the explosive Jonas Valanciunas, who produced points and rebounds in droves. He averaged 14.9 points and 11.3 rebounds in just 26.4 minutes of action, giving the Grizzlies some much-needed low-post scoring and propelling the team to a top-eight seed in the West before the restart.
Kevin C. Cox/Associated Press
Dillon Brooks pitched in as well, scoring 16.2 points per night.
The season didn't start well with the team beginning 6-16, but the Grizz then went 7-6 over their next 13 games to move to 13-22 and prevent the season from going into a complete tailspin.
At that point, the Grizz caught fire, winning seven straight and 11 of 13 to move to 24-24. After a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis broke past the .500 mark with four wins in five contests to go to 28-26.
However, a tough schedule loomed for the Grizzlies, and Memphis faltered a bit down the stretch.
The Grizz lost five straight in late February and started the Walt Disney World portion of the schedule with four straight defeats.
However, the 3.5-game cushion they built over the ninth-place teams in the West leading into the restart ultimately paid off as the Grizz were able to split their last four games and sneak into the play-in game.
It's been a rocky regular season finish for the Grizz, and they'll have to figure out how to win a pair versus Portland without Jackson, who suffered a torn left meniscus and is out for the season.
Win or lose, though, Memphis looks like it's about to become a perennial playoff team under Morant and Jackson, who should lead the Grizz to great heights through the 2020s.
Portland Trail Blazers
A trying season for the Blazers started with the team scuffling to a 5-12 start. The loss of center Jusuf Nurkic, who broke his left leg in March 2019, clearly hindered the team as the Blazers were left without their dominant scorer and rebounder, one who had established an excellent report with the backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
Some reprieve came in the form of 10-time All-Star and three-time Olympic gold medalist Carmelo Anthony, however. The 36-year-old Melo averaged 15.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, one year after playing just 10 games with the Houston Rockets and finding himself unable to land with another team.
While the Blazers didn't propel themselves to the upper echelon of the West, Anthony helped stabilize the team and stop the bleeding, keeping them within striking distance of the playoffs.
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
All the while, Damian Lillard did Damian Lillard things, which is to say that he dropped buckets at will. He averaged 30.0 points and 8.0 assists and scored 60 or more points three times, including a 61-point effort last Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks.
C.J. McCollum continued to be an excellent backcourt mate thanks to his scoring and ball-handling, and a few young players emerged in Gary Trent Jr. and Zach Collins.
Portland went into the restart with a 29-37 record but finished 35-39 overall after going 6-2. Their games in Walt Disney World were highly entertaining and decided by an average of 4.6 points per game. Portland excelled on offense (although not so much on defense) and lit up scoreboard, scoring 110 or more points in every game.
The Blazers have taken on a new look in Florida, too. Nurkic is back and has filled up the stat sheet with 17.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Collins, who missed 63 games with a dislocated shoulder, is back in the mix and providing valuable minutes, posting 7.0 points and 6.3 rebounds for the year.
And Gary Trent Jr. has developed into a sometimes unstoppable force off the bench, nailing a litany of three-pointers and provided some scoring reprieve for Lillard and McCollum in the backcourt. He's averaged 16.9 points on 51.6 percent shooting (50.7 percent from three-point range) during the restart.
Kim Klement/Associated Press
Despite its restart success, Portland needed to beat the Brooklyn Nets in its final game to make the play-in round. The Blazers did so 134-133 behind 42 Lillard points, and now they'll look to advance to the playoffs for the seventh straight year.
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