Trail Blazers Gain Ground in Play-In Chase With 'Complete' Win Over Grizzlies

📍PORTLAND, Ore. — The stuff that was out of the Trail Blazers’ control went their way on Wednesday, with the Dallas Mavericks blowing a late lead to the Indiana Pacers to fall into a tie with the Phoenix Suns for the 10th seed in the Western Conference play-in race.

But the Blazers know as well as anyone that none of that matters if they don’t control what they can control—winning—and they continued to do that on Wednesday in an impressive 115-99 win over the Memphis Grizzlies that head coach Chauncey Billups called “one of our most complete games, wire-to-wire.”

They’re now just two games out of the play-in, with 12 games left in the regular season. The last time the games mattered this late into the season, the Blazers were still playing in front of reduced-capacity COVID crowds.

“I haven’t been in this territory for the past couple of years,” Anfernee Simons said. “So I’m getting a little excited.”

This win ranks highly for the Blazers. Not just because of what it means for their play-in hopes, or because of how well they played at both ends of the floor for 48 minutes, but because of who they beat.

The last time the Grizzlies were in town in November, they blew the Blazers out by 45 points and Billups called the team “losers” in the postgame press conference.

In that game, the Blazers made just four three-pointers. On Wednesday, they outshot Memphis 18-8 behind the arc. They outplayed the Grizzlies in the first half when it was a shootout, and in the second half when the game slowed to a halt.

Deni Avdija had 26 of his 31 points in the first half, and continued to set the tone defensively in the second half.

Duop Reath, who has barely played this season before the last couple of weeks, had his best game of the season, with 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Donovan Clingan won this round of what will be a career-long battle with former college rival Zach Edey.

Shaedon Sharpe continued to show he can do more than just score, with Billups praising his “alertness” on the defensive end.

“The last two times we lost to Memphis, we got beat pretty bad by them both times,” Simons said. “So to come back and respond like this … Obviously, it was earlier in the year, so I feel like we were a totally different team. It’s almost like they were in our heads a little bit, so I’m glad we got over the hump.”

Not everybody had the Grizzlies circled like Simons did.

“I have a short memory,” Avdija said. “In this league, you have to have a short memory. Some teams or matchups I do remember. For me, Memphis is a good team, I respect that team, they play hard. I didn’t really remember how badly we lost, honestly. I just wanted to beat them. But I’m happy for Ant. I’m happy he’s happy.”

The win over the third-place Grizzlies was also the first time in six weeks (since Feb. 4 against Indiana) that the Blazers have beaten a top-six playoff seed in either conference. Most of this feel-good run they’ve been on for the last two months has come against play-in and lottery-caliber teams. Those are the opponents that good teams are supposed to beat, and the Blazers have largely been doing that. But with Denver, Boston and Cleveland coming up in the next week before the team heads out on its last extended road trip of the season, they will have far from an easy path to the play-in.

They’re trying to focus on controlling what they can control.

“[Billups] doesn’t [talk about it], and I’m happy about that,” Avdija said. “I’m the same way. I don’t really pay attention to the standings. I just pay attention to beating the next team we play. Regardless of whether we have a chance or we don’t have a chance, we’re a basketball team and we’re coming to win.”

Avdija is in the group of Blazers players that has never been a part of anything like this. The Wizards advanced out of the play-in and made the playoffs his rookie season in 2020-21, but he was injured and didn’t play. Simons was still a third-year player playing behind Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum the last time the Blazers were in the postseason. The three veterans with deep playoff experience, Deandre Ayton, Jerami Grant and Robert Williams III, are currently on the shelf with injuries. For everyone else, this is brand-new territory.

“Of course [it’s meaningful]. I like to have achievements,” Avdija said. “I like to be in the playoffs. It’s a part of who I am. It’s in my DNA and I think it’s in our team TNA. I think we’re winning players and I think we can do a lot of good stuff in this league. We’re still up-and-coming, but if we can get this experience of a play-in or playoff, I think it’s very beneficial for us.”

“The last couple of years around this time, it’s like, ‘Alright, when’s the season gonna end?,’” Simons said. “It’s a good feeling, knowing that every game matters.”