PHOENIX – The Suns played for their playoff lives Tuesday night, taking on the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
Winner faces the No. 2 seeded San Antonio Spurs as the 7th seed…
And though Phoenix wasn’t victorious Tuesday night, Jordan Ott’s squad has one more lifeline left.
They’ll face the winner of Clippers/Warriors in Phoenix, Friday at 7 PM.
Talk about an introduction to the Western Conference postseason…the Suns and Blazers delivered a very entertaining product.
To ensure PHX’s survival, they’ll have to tend to a few things:
First off, the rotation felt a little short, cause it was…Grayson Allen’s absence was apparent on both ends. Now he has a few more days to get right.
Secondly, the Suns only making 9 of 25 from deep and allowing 17 made treys isn’t gonna help the cause.
“I thought we could’ve gotten more threes up as a group,” Devin Booker said.
Royce O’Neale steal + transition 3 forces a #Blazers timeout…
Suns up 11 with 7 min to playZ@Sports360AZ pic.twitter.com/kx11XE2v45
— Eliav Gabay (@eliavgabay) April 15, 2026
Third, Mark Williams made his presence felt right out the gate, but his impact didn’t last.
Defensively – Williams was the only bit of resistance at the rim (3 blocks), so as Ott has talked about all year, guards are gonna have to play big and support their big fella.
On offense – Williams establishing post position more often, or at least getting a few more lob opportunities, gives PHX higher percentage looks & the defense more to think about.
“I think some of the fourth quarter offense comes down to getting your match up, who you want,” Ott said. “Similar to how they did it, we get the space around them. I thought at times we definitely could have got space better in that moment, but it really came down to stops. I thought all night, we really struggled to keep them out of the paint.”
Also…hard not to mention missing nine free throws when the margin of error is so slim.
Was good to see Jalen Green go off for 35 points and five boards on 48% shooting while clocking the most minutes he’s played all season at 39.
It was also the loudest the home crowd has been all year, as it should be; the Phoenix faithful matched the moment for their team.
The fans had me thinking it was close to being wrapped up when the Suns led by 11 with seven minutes to play.
The way the building exploded when Dillon Brooks drilled an insane stepback three in Deni Avdija’s face to put Suns up one nearly convinced me it was Phoenix’s night once more.
Avdija had other plans, shutting the door by way of and-1 layup (which was also Brooks’ sixth foul), that became the eventual game-winner.
“Best thing that’s happened in my career so far.”#Blazers All-Star Deni Avdija dropped 41 pts (15/22 FG), 12 ast, 7 reb on the biggest stage of his young career.
Avdija sends Portland to the #NBAPlayoffs to face No. 2 #Spurs
Him & I chatted in Hebrew & English postgame. pic.twitter.com/8AWdIJXAWj
— Eliav Gabay (@eliavgabay) April 15, 2026
Though the Suns are stumbling, they’re still in the ring…and as cliché as it sounds, if there is a unique trait about these guys, it’s their spirit.
With the way they’ve battled all year, it seems like they have one more push in them, but that’s the difference between Play-In teams & Playoff teams.
Sports360AZ’s Suns Play-In coverage continues as Phoenix prepares for LAC or Golden State on Friday. Winner of that game takes on the No. 1 seed OKC Thunder in the playoffs.
