The Portland Trail Blazers are matching up with the Phoenix Suns tonight with the 7th seed in the 2026 NBA Playoffs on the line. The first game of the Western Conference Play-In will decide who will face the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
For the Blazers, this marks the first time since the 2020-21 season that they find themselves in the postseason in any form. On the other side, the Suns missed the playoffs last season after making it multiple years in a row before that.
What You Need To Know
Portland
Trail Blazers (42-40) vs Phoenix Suns (45-37) – Tues Apr. 14 – 7:00 pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network.
How to watch via streaming: Amazon Prime Video
How to listen: Rip City Radio 620AM
Trail Blazers Injuries: Damian Lillard (out); Jerami Grant (questionable)
Suns Injuries: Grayson Allen (questionable)
What To Watch For
Playoff basketball. For the majority of the Blazers, this will be the first taste of postseason play. Jrue Holiday, Jerami Grant, Robert Williams and Matisse Thybulle all have played in at least a few playoff series, but no one else on the roster has appeared in a single game. The importance of playoff experience is brought up time and time again with young teams, and the Blazers will be no different. If they hope to take a win here against a Phoenix team sporting a number of veterans, they will have to come prepared for a different type of game then they are used to.
Control the glass. Portland is the 6th best rebounding team in the NBA this season at 46.0 per game. They also sit 2nd in offensive rebounds per game with 14.1. On the other side, the Suns rank in the bottom third in rebounds per game, but sit 4th in the league with 13.0 offensive rebounds per game. This is a matchup that will really show off the importance of the Blazers’s center tandem of Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams. If the pair can impose their will on the defensive glass and limit the second chance opportunities Phoenix usually gets, that will set up Portland to have a major advantage in an important aspect of this contest.
Ball security. The Suns averaged 9.5 steals per game this season, good for 4th in the NBA. They also sat in the top half of the league in turnovers per game with 13.5. The Blazers will have to try and limit the advantage in the turnover battle that Phoenix is generally able to exploit. One small problem, however, is that Portland turns the ball over 16.5 times per game, dead last in the NBA. Playing that sloppy and allowing for easy baskets in transistion is something that needs to be cleaned up if the Blazers have any hope of playoff success, including making it out of the Play-In in the first place. Phoenix has the luxury of being able to do as they always do, get steals. It is Portland that will be forced to make a major shift in how their offense opperates.
What Others Are Saying
Kevin Humphreys of Bright Side of the Sun talked about why this season for Phoenix was perfectly average, and why that’s still a positive thing.
The Suns, by the numbers, were average. But what the numbers cannot tell you is that this team competed hard every night before the All-Star break, and most nights after the All-Star break. Many times, they were positionally challenged, having to play multiple shooting guard-sized players out of position, and still Jordan Ott and his staff put out the best lineups they could for success every night. Players like Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin, Oso Ighodaro, Grayson Allen, and Dillon Brooks exceeded all preseason expectations, while Jalen Green, Ryan Dunn, Mark Williams, Royce O’Neale, and the rookies were up and down.
Our own Dave Deckard broke down the matchup in detail yesterday.
