With the 8th seed in the Western Conference on the line, the Portland Trail Blazers bested their Los Angeles Clippers conference rivals for a second time in two weeks, beating them 116-97. The Blazer win brings their record to 41-40 on the season, tied with the Clippers with only one game remaining in the regular season against the last place Sacramento Kings this Sunday April 12.
The game against the Clipps had the sold out, high voltage playoff atmosphere it deserved, a back and forth defensive slug fest between the Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard and a rag tag band of Blazers tasked with guarding him (Jrue Holiday, Toumani Camara, Kris Murray, and Deni Avdija all took turns slowing him down). With easily the highest stakes Rip City have played for since they last made the playoffs in 2021, the Blazers came out firing in the first half. Dominating on the backs of the growing shooting prowess of big man Donovan Clingan, and the more rarified threes of Robert Williams III, who combined for 5 first half threes, the Blazers went into the half up ten.
However, after Jrue Holiday’s hard foul on former-Blazer fan favorite Derrick Jones Jr. was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 in the third quarter, the tides shifted in the Clippers’ direction. When the Clipps briefly took a two point lead, it felt like divine intervention from the Basketball Gods, relegating our beloved-fatally-flawed heroes overboard, sinking to the depths of the Pacific in the wake of the LA battleship. But in the end the Blazers laughed in the faces of the gods, their playoff-like intensity too much for their Los Angeles foes.
Deni Avdija scored 35 points, coming out of the gate hot in the first quarter and finishing with a dagger three pointer with less than three minutes to go to essentially seal the Blazer win. The Blazer big men, Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III, both had double-doubles, a combined five first half three pointers, and seemingly endless hustle plays.
Truly, this should forever be remembered as the Matisse Thybulle Memorial Second to Last Game of the Regular Season. No, Tisse didn’t “technically” die. But, in the most important game the Blazers have played since at least 2021, in front of a sold out crowd, with the Moda Center lights shining the brightest, our beautiful boy shone even brighter. Diving for loose balls, tipping passes, blocking three point shots, Tisse was a Tasmanian Devil (with gorgeous dimples) on defense. When he left the game limping with an ankle injury in the second quarter, Moda Center faithful bit their collective fingernails as the Blazers ten point halftime lead fizzled in the third quarter. But like a Greek Adonis Dramatic Hero—Tisse returned. Though he still limped down the court, it didn’t deter him from continuing to jump around, continuing to wreak havoc. It was perhaps the most impactful 18 minutes of basketball the Blazers got. His 6 points-2 rebounds-1 assist doesn’t seem like anything to write home about, but his 4 steals, 2 blocks, and unstoppable motor were clear difference makers.
“[Thybulle] tweaked his ankle and was playing with some pain,” Portland Trail Blazers head coach Tiago Splitter said after the game. “He struggled there, but still gave us quality minutes.”
This Sunday is another No Kings Day as the Blazers end their regular season against the lowly Sacramento Kings. Since the Blazers beat the Clippers last night and now own a tie-breaker advantage over the Clipps, with a Blazer win over the Kings—or a Clippers loss to the Golden State Warriors—the Blazers will outright clinch eighth place in the West. This is important seeding-wise for the playoffs since the NBA Play-In Tournament format means that the eighth seed gets the privilege of only needing to win one out of two games to cinch a Western Conference playoff spot, while the ninth seed needs to win both play-in games in a row.
If the Blazers finish in eighth, they will play next Tuesday, April 14 at the Phoenix Suns. Win that game and your Portland Trail Blazers get the seventh seed and play a best of seven playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs—meaning at least two Blazer playoff games! If they lose to the Suns, then the Blazers would have a home game against the winner of ninth place/tenth place on Friday, April 17, the winner of which would get the eighth seed and play the first place Oklahoma City Thunder in a best of seven series.
“Outstanding performance defensively,” Splitter said. “But we also have one more game left.”
