The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 126-122 in the NBA play-in contest on Saturday to secure the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. Rip City will challenge the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.

Portland saw four of their players reach 20+points: 31 by Damian Lillard, 29 by C.J. McCollum, 22 by Jusuf Nurkic and 21 by Carmelo Anthony. Nurkic's grandmother Hana had passed away before the game due to COVID-19.

Ja Morant dropped a career-high of 35 points, four rebounds and eight assists for Memphis. Jonas Valanciunas scored 22 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. Dillon Brooks and Brandon Clarke also got 20 points each.

Like we mentioned in earlier, it would take the Grizzlies a miracle to beat the Trail Blazers. In the first quarter, there was no sign of anything miraculous. The Grizzlies could not find even one way out offensively as their orchestrator, 21-year-old Morant saw all his options denied. He missed both beyond the arc and his floaters around the free throw line; Nurkic and Zach Collins denied him in front of the rim.

The Grizzlies' malfunctioning offense made the game even easier for the Trial Blazers which even saw Nurkic sink a 3-pointer in Q1. Lillard did not need to call screen because he could easily break through the opponents' defense before deciding whether to charge against the rim or pass to an open teammate. The Trail Blazers soon finished the first quarter, leading 31-19. They were 13-14 from the free-throw line – by contrast, the Grizzlies were only 1-2 in the same division.

Valanciunas stood out to save the game for Memphis in the second quarter. The Lithuanian center became the team's pillar in both offense and defense in the second quarter. He went 5-7 to get 14 points in Q2 alone, making Hassan Whiteside look like a broken puppet. Moreover, his performance seemed to have encouraged Morant. The rookie guard began to find his confidence back and put down six points via a series of isolation plays. After the first half, Memphis narrowed the score difference down to six points (58-52).

Memphis continued to create surprises with their offense in the third quarter. Morant and Brookes kept hurting Portland from inside while Clarke began to grow hot from downtown. His four triples plus Morant's efforts of continuously launching early offense contributed 42 points to Memphis which gained the lead 94-89.

McCollum became Portland's hero in the last quarter as he kept scoring in various ways. His signature perimeter shooting aside, McCollum continued to fire from the 3-point line as well. His performance helped Portland stand against Memphis' charge until Anthony made the game-winning triple at last – he was 0-6 from the 3-point line before this shot.

Despite the victory, this game exposed some of Portland's lethal flaws. For example, Whiteside must keep his focus on the game or he will be nothing but a terrible loophole in defense; perimeter players who can dribble and shoot can cause serious trouble for Portland; the team's defense will feel very uncomfortable in fast-pace game.

As for Memphis, Morant could consider this game as a good cue for how to improve his game. His charge against the rim and the ability to find teammates – both shooters outside and big men inside – are great, but if he can make defenders pay for leaving him open from downtown, the rookie will be even more unstoppable in the future.