Ricky, the Suns and the sudden and exciting end for a place in the NBA playoffs

Damien Lillard just equaled his career NBA career-high 61 points. It is the seventh season for the Californian point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers. Moreover, after his new demonstration in the victory against Dallas (131-134) he is paired with the legendary Wilt Chamberlain as the only ones who have added three games in the same season scoring more than 60 points. And, in addition, his team has placed, for the first time in a long time, in eighth place in the Western Conference. But this atypical season requires one last additional effort to consolidate that eighth and last of the places that qualify to play the playoffsin the Western Conference. Four teams, Portland, Memphis, Phoenix and San Antonio will fight for the eighth and ninth places on the final day of the regular phase, in the last of the eight games that each of them play in the Disney World bubble.

"It is the most important game of our lives," says Lillard, referring to the one he will play in the early hours of Thursday through Friday against Brooklyn. “Tonight (Tuesday night against Dallas) has been great. We said we need one more victory. We will focus on that match. It is the most important ”.

The NBA, to compensate for the fact that the entire regular phase could not be played due to the pandemic (Portland will end with 74 games instead of the usual 82), established that the eighth and ninth classified play an atypical tie. The eighth will have enough with a victory in that cross that is played on August 15 and the ninth will require two and, therefore, if the first wins, everything will be elucidated in the second, on August 16.

Fierce Battle in the West

There is one day left to conclude the regular phase and four teams play it all to get their foot in that tie that has been called Play-in . The fight to get into that customs at the last minute that gives the right to enter the fight for the title among the 16 best, has become, health situation and exploits of Doncic, Booker, Warren and Lillard on the sidelines, in the most important storyline Interesting from the Disney World bubble. There was no debate in the East, where Washington was so far from eighth place and has lost all its games in the bubble that Orlando soon knew that no one was going to dispute eighth place. In the West, however, the battle is fierce between four teams. Among them, Ricky Rubio's Suns. They were not expected to have options. But their seven victories in as many games has allowed them to be fully in the fight.

Ricky has exhibited an excellent level of play, similar to the one that earned him the MVP in the World Cup that Spain won a year ago in China. The Suns have achieved full bubble wins thanks mostly to their gunner Devin Booker. At 23 he has already accumulated 91 games with 30 points or more. No one had ever done it in the history of the franchise. The Suns met the eight-game challenge in the bubble from 13th place in the standings with six wins less than Memphis and three less than Portland. San Antonio, 12th when it began to be played at Disney World with just one win more than the Suns, has held onto its chances of entering the playoffs one more year until the last day . There are not many because it depends on third parties. If he was eliminated, it would be the first time after 22 consecutive seasons in the fight for a title that he has won five times since that very long streak began in the 1997-1998 season.

Ricky Rubio, 29, is in his ninth season in the NBA. He has made the playoffs twice, in the last two seasons, with the Utah Jazz. In the 2017-2018 season, after beating Oklahoma City (4-2), they fell in the conference semifinals against Houston (4-1), the same rival that eliminated them in the first round of the 2018-2019 season (4 -one). "In training we had already seen that many players had taken a step forward," says Ricky after the optimal results achieved in the Disney World bubble. “During the season we had some injuries that didn't allow us to pick up a lot of pace. And it is difficult, especially in a year when the team is young and inexperienced. But we came with a lot of desire, with the illusion that he has nothing to lose. And we are there ”.

The possibilities in the last day

Classification:

8th Portland (34-39, 46.6% wins)

9th Memphis (33-39, 45.8%)

10th Phoenix (33-39, 45.8%)

11th San Antonio (32-38, 45.7%)

The combinations to play the Play-in

Portland (opponent on the last day: Brooklyn)

8th if Memphis, Phoenix and San Antonio win or lose.

9th if two of those three teams lose.

Memphis (opponent on the last day: Milwaukee)

8th if he wins and Portland loses.

9th if Phoenix and San Antonio win or lose.

Phoenix (opponent in the last day: Dallas)

8th if Memphis and Portland win and lose.

9th if Memphis or Portland win and lose.

San Antonio (opponent on the last day: Utah)

8th if Memphis, Phoenix and Portland win and lose

9th if two of those three teams win and lose