The play in game to determine the 8th seed in the Western Conference is set it will be the Portland Trailblazers vs the Memphis Grizzlies. The Trailblazers are the 8th seed which means they have to beat the Grizzlies just once to clinch the 8th seed and play the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. The Grizzlies will have to win not just on Saturday but also must win an additional game on Sunday to officially be in the playoffs. The tables have turned when it comes to the Grizzlies and the Trailblazers when it comes to the health of key players. The Grizzlies prior to the NBA shutting down were in sole possession of the 8th seed and a healthy team. Since then they have lost Jaron Jackson Jr to a season ending injury; in contrast the Trailblazers were not fully healthy all season. Once the restart began the Blazers were able to get healthy adding big men Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic who both returned from injuries that kept them out from the beginning of the season. Also, if you look at the records of the two teams since the restart you would think the Blazers are going to run away with the game Saturday afternoon. The Grizzlies are 2-6 since the restart and the Blazers are 6-2 with arguably the NBA Bubble MVP in Damian Lillard. The two teams are opposite the Grizzlies are a young inexperience team and the Trailblazers are a veteran team with tons of playoff experience. The Grizzlies are a young hungry team and with the lack of defense that the Trailblazers play have a chance to take game 1 on Saturday to force a decisive game 2 on Sunday. The game will come down this key matchup which is Damian Lillard vs Ja Morant. I predict the Trailblazers will win on Saturday and clinch the final play spot with big contribution coming from Carmelo Anthony. It will be highly contested game but in the end the Blazers will win 115-105.
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