The Los Angeles Lakers will take on one of the NBA's hottest teams in the first round of the playoffs.
The Portland Trail Blazers, who mostly struggled through a listless and injury-racked regular season prior to the league's suspension in March, earned the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference with a 126-122 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
The Blazers went 7-2 in their final regular-season games, which were played to determine postseason rankings and to allow players to tune up after the layoff, before heading on to the postseason.
Portland's run featured several thrilling last-second finishes and was led by superstar Damian Lillard, who posted a pair of 60-point performances. The veteran point guard, who also scored 60 back in November, became the first player to score at least 60 points in three games in the same season since Wilt Chamberlain.
The Blazers played with heavy hearts on Saturday for star center Jusuf Nurkic, who revealed on social media hours prior to the game that his grandmother had recently perished after contracting the coronavirus, ESPN reported. Nurkic posted a 22-point, 21-rebound double-double, while Lillard poured in 31 points and dished out 10 assists.
For Memphis, the elimination was the final blow in a tough showing in the restart -- during which the team went 2-7, including a sluggish 0-4 start. It also marks the end of the season for Rookie of the Year candidate Ja Morant, who was denied an opportunity to shine on the postseason stage.
By finishing 7-2, the Blazers managed to hold off an incredible surge from Phoenix Suns, who went a perfect 8-0 in the restart but were unable to overtake the Blazers with too much ground to make up.
The Lakers, meanwhile, stumbled to a 3-5 record in the bubble, though they were said to be resting their regulars regularly and experimenting with different rotations and sets in advance of the postseason.
The Eastern Conference was settled earlier in the week. There was relatively little to be decided on that side aside from seeding considerations. A strong restart for the Indiana Pacers and scoring machine T.J. Warren propelled them to the fourth seed and the Miami Heat down to No. 5. The decimated Brooklyn Nets put forth a respectable showing and held on to the seventh seed.
Here are the complete postseason matchups:
Eastern Conference:
1 Milwaukee Bucks - 8 Orlando Magic
2 Toronto Raptors - 7 Brooklyn Nets
3 Boston Celtics - 6 Philadelphia 76ers
4 Indiana Pacers - 5 Miami Heat
Western Conference:
1 Los Angeles Lakers - 8 Portland Trail Blazers
2 Los Angeles Clippers - 7 Dallas Mavericks
3 Denver Nuggets - 6 Utah Jazz
4 Houston Rockets - 5 Oklahoma City Thunder