Orlando (United States) (AFP)

Portland-Memphis, such will be the poster of the qualifying play-off for the NBA play-offs in the West, the Blazers having snatched the 8th place by beating Brooklyn and the Grizzlies having preserved the 9th by winning against Milwaukee, Thursday, in great chagrin of Phoenix and San Antonio.

. Portland was very hot

“What's the Time? It's Dame Time!”, Are used to chanting Blazers fans, accustomed to the saving baskets of Damian Lillard in the money-time. This time, it was an interception that was decisive to beat the Nets (134-133).

At 1 min 11 sec from the end, the leader, who had just missed a shot, threw himself on a ball raised by Caris LeVert, still excellent (37 pts), to offer it to CJ McCollum (25 pts) whose shoot gave four steps ahead (134-130).

A last attempt by LeVert, who had just closed the gap to one point, did not finally hit the mark, leaving Lillard to push a big sigh of relief, after a still titanic performance with 42 points (12 rebounds), including 8 shots out of 14 three-point, the farthest shipped from the logo.

In the snatch, Portland takes 8th place and will only need a victory this weekend against Memphis to then challenge the Lakers in the first round. Lillard against LeBron, the whole NBA already salivating.

. Memphis breathes

The Grizzlies might have 3.5 wins ahead of 8th place before the restart, they come back a long way. In two weeks, they squandered almost all that credit, leaving Phoenix and San Antonio, which however harbored little hope. Finally, the success against the Bucks (118-106) allows them to finish in front of these two teams. Memphis will nevertheless have to win twice in a row against Portland to validate his ticket and challenge LA

The absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, suspended for giving a little head butt to a Washington player, obviously did the business of the Tennessee team which relied on the 31 points of Dillon Brooks and the triples- doubles from Lithuanian pivot Jarunas Valanciunas (26 pts, 19 rebounds, 12 assists) and rookie Ja Morant (12 pts, 13 rebounds, 10 assists).

Opposite, the application to maintain a semblance of suspense was not obvious, despite Brook Lopez (19 pts, 9 rebounds) and the substitute Donte DiVincenzo (17 pts).

. Phoenix's dream reduced to ashes

The Suns have done the job and have no regrets to feed, but the frustration must be great! They won their eighth straight bubble game against Dallas (128-102) and believed Brooklyn would help them overtake Portland. The ace...

Devin Booker, author of 27 points (7 rebounds, 5 assists), was again the attacking leader of Phoenix otherwise very skilful collectively (55%). It won't console him, but the point guard will remain as one of the very best to have stood out at Disney World this summer.

Opposite, Luka Doncic played only 13 minutes, finding time to score 18 pts (5 rebounds).

. End of series for Spurs

And what a series! For the first time in 23 years, San Antonio will not play the play-offs. A first for Gregg Popovich in office all this time and who led his team to five league titles in 22 seasons.

Teasing, the 71-year-old coach initially pretended not to understand which series the journalists were talking about, before contradicting them with his unstoppable tongue-in-cheek humor, mimicking a well-known political leader.

"This is false information, totally false! A lot of people tell me the show didn't stop, I talk to people all the time. They call me and say + Pop the show didn't stop. stopped! + She didn't stop! I don't know where you got that from! ", he said, impassive.

Before really giving his feeling: "I know that it means a lot surely for many, but I do not dwell on that. The present moment is what is most important and we must move forward", a he concluded, adding that there was no reason why he should not remain the manager of Spurs next season.

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