PHOENIX — The aroma of playoff basketball was in the air at Phoenix Suns Arena on Thursday night as the Suns had the lead, blew the lead, and then found a way to win the game 118-117 over Portland on a pair of Devin Booker free throws.
Mid-way through the fourth quarter, the Suns had a nine-point lead on the Trail Blazers and Phoenix needed the win in order to get within a game of Utah's currently-held 1-seed in the West.
Meanwhile, the Blazers are jockeying for position with both the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers for seeds 5-7.
This means more this year as the 7-seed will participate in a play-in tournament to get into the playoffs.
En route to a 40-point quarter, the Blazers tied the game at 113 with 1:32 to go. A Devin Booker turnover led to a shooting foul on Mikal Bridges and the Blazers took a 115-113 lead with just over a minute to play.
On the ensuing possession, Dario Saric drew a foul but made just one free throw to bring it to 115-114.
The Suns would get the ball back and Saric drew another shooting foul with a chance to tie or take the lead, but he missed both free throws.
After a Damian Lillard layup, the Blazers took a 117-114 lead.
With 32 seconds left, Bridges drew a shooting foul and made both free throws to bring the Suns within one.
A wild sequence ensued as the Suns played straight-up defense and rebounded a Lillard miss and looked to be moving in transition when Booker ran into Carmelo Anthony and was called for a double dribble. The Suns argued Booker was fouled, but a review couldn't do anything about a no-foul call.
The Suns fouled Robert Covington with five seconds left and he missed both free throws.
After a timeout, the Suns had the ball on their end with four seconds to play. Booker drove and threw up a mid-range shot but a shooting foul was called. Booker sunk both free throws to take the win.
Playoff scenarios
The Suns are now one game back from the Jazz for the one-seed and each team has two games to play in the Western Conference. Phoenix has two games in San Antonio and the Jazz play the Thunder and Kings, two non-playoff teams.
If the Jazz go 1-1 or 0-2 and the Suns go 2-0, the Suns will be the one-seed. If the Jazz go 2-0, they'll lock up the 1-seed.
The Suns COULD move to the 3-seed if the Clippers win their final two games and the Suns lose both contests against the Spurs.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers are half a game back behind the Blazers for the six-seed. This is important because the Suns' most likely scenario will be that they get the two-seed. The two-seed this year will play the winner of the 7 vs. 8-seed play-in game.
This is how it looks if the play-in tournament started Friday, May 14:
The Suns obviously want to avoid a first-round matchup with the defending champion Lakers, who the Suns lost to last weekend without LeBron James.
The Lakers have games remaining against the Pacers and Pelicans. The Blazers have just one game left against the 4-seed Nuggets. The Mavericks, who could also finish anywhere from 5-7, have games remaining against the Raptors and Pelicans.
In the battle for the 8-seed, the winner of the Warriors-Grizzlies game on Sunday will get the 8-seed. The Suns could end up playing either of these teams whether they're the 1 or 2 seed. Phoenix fell to Golden State earlier this week.
While there are just two games left, there is a lot of shaking up that can still occur in the Western Conference playoff picture.
Catch The Locked On Suns postgame breakdown:
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