During the reboot of the NBA in the bubble, we at NBC Sports NW performed a series called Eye on the Aight: a series that keeps track and races for the eighth seed in the Western Conference aborted.
Play-in games are a guarantee for the eighth seed in the West, as the ninth seed will definitely finish within four games of the eighth seed. The eighth and ninth seeds in the West will appear PT at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. If the eighth seed wins, they will advance to the first round of the playoffs to face the Los Angeles Lakers. If the ninth seed wins on Saturday, the two teams will have a rematch on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., where the winner will advance to the postseason.
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Here are the standings on the way to Tuesday, August 11th.
Memphis Grizzlies Remaining Schedule: Boston, Milwaukee (Win Percentage: 0.465)
9. Portland Trail Blazers (0.5 games behind) Resting schedule: Dallas, Brooklyn (Win percentage: 0.458)
Phoenix Suns (1.0 games behind) Rest Sheet: Philadelphia, Dallas (Win percentage: 0.451)
11. San Antonio Spurs (1.0 games behind) Resting schedule: Houston, Utah (Win Percentage: 0.449)
Tiebreakers:
Due to the season suspension, not all teams have played the same number of games, so the first tiebreaker is the winning percentage that Portland favors in every matchup.
Then it will go to head-to-head record, followed by division record as in the same division, then conference record, then conference record against playoff teams, then record against playoff teams in the East, and then net rating.
Scenarios:
Portland wins eighth seed:
–Portland goes 2-0, Memphis goes 1-1
-Portland goes 1-1, Memphis goes 0-2, San Antonio goes 1-1, Phoenix goes 1-1
Portland wins ninth seed:
-Portland goes 2-0, Memphis 2-0
-Portland goes 1-1, San Antonio goes 1-1, Phoenix goes 1-1
-Portland goes 0-2, San Antonio goes 0-2, Phoenix goes 0-2,
Portland Falls Under the Ninth Seed:
–Portland goes 1-1, Memphis goes 2-0, either San Antonio or Phoenix goes 2-0
-Portland goes 0-2, whether San Antonio or Phoenix win at least one game.
Portland plays Memphis as the eighth seed:
-Portland goes 2-0, Memphis goes 1-1 or less
-Portland goes 2-0 as 1-1, Memphis goes 0-2, Suns and Spurs go 1-1 as worse
Portland plays Memphis as the ninth seed:
-Portland goes 2-0, Memphis goes 2-0
-Portland goes 1-1, Memphis goes 1-1 or better, Suns and Spurs go 1-1 or worse
-Portland goes 0-2, Phoenix goes 0-2, San Antonio goes 0-2
Portland plays Phoenix as the eighth seed:
-Portland goes 2-0, Memphis goes 0-2, Phoenix goes 2-0
Portland plays Phoenix as the ninth seed:
-Portland goes 1-1, Phoenix goes 2-0, Memphis goes 0-2, San Antonio goes 1-1 or worse
Portland plays San Antonio as the eighth seed:
-Portland goes 2-0, San Antonio goes 2-0, Memphis goes 0-2, Phoenix goes 1-1 or worse
Portland plays San Antonio as the ninth seed:
-Portland goes 1-1, San Antonio goes 2-0, Memphis goes 0-2, Phoenix goes 1-1 or worse
Memphis plays Phoenix as the eighth seed:
-Memphis goes 1-1 or better, Phoenix goes 2-0, Portland goes 1-1 or worse
Memphis plays San Antonio as the eighth seed:
-Memphis goes 1-1 or better, San Antonio goes 2-0, Portland and Phoenix both go 1-1 or worse
-San Antonio goes 1-1, Portland goes 0-2, Phoenix goes 0-2
Phoenix plays Memphis as the eighth seed:
-Phoenix goes 2-0, Portland goes 0-2, San Antonio goes 1-1 or worse
Phoenix plays San Antonio as the eighth seed:
-Phoenix goes 2-0, San Antonio goes 2-0, Portland goes 1-1 or worse, Memphis goes 0-2
San Antonio plays Memphis as the eighth seed:
-San Antonio goes 2-0, Memphis goes 0-2, Portland goes 0-2, Phoenix goes 1-1 or worse
Play-in-games schedule:
Game 1: Saturday, August 15 at 11:30 a.m. PT
Game 2 (if needed): Sunday, August 16 at 1:30 p.m. PT
