The Phoenix Suns’ inability to beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the play-in tournament on Tuesday night was painful, although the fact it wasn’t totally surprising made it even worse.
You just had a feeling as the fourth-quarter unfolded that it was not going to be their night, and Phoenix is now one loss away from creating some unwanted history.
Suns could become first seventh seed to miss out on postseason
Their shot at redemption will come at home against either the L.A. Clippers or Golden State Warriors, so they should still have a degree of confidence that they can get the job done.
But failure to do so and be the first seventh seed to miss out since the play-in tournament was introduced would undo all of the great work in getting the fanbase onside that was put in during the regular season.
It is possible to pinpoint the moment when it all started to slip away for the Suns, and the main concern here is that it could easily happen again when the pressure is turned up several notches in their next game.
DEVIN BOOKER CHOKED WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE 😭 pic.twitter.com/KlZRy0lrd8
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) April 15, 2026
With over six minutes to go and a nine point lead, Oso Ighodaro set a screen and pointed at Jalen Green to take advantage of the space that was created. Green ignored this, so Ighodaro rightly began to look elsewhere on the court to create for his team.
As he did so, Green attempted a behind the back pass to the spot that Ighodaro had been standing in seconds earlier. Turnover.
The groan let out around the building was as loud as you will hear in The Valley.
The Trail Blazers failed to take advantage of the possession, Shaedon Sharpe turning the ball over himself, but the damage had been done. Using some amateur mouth reading abilities here, and head coach Jordan Ott appeared to call for a “double drag” action next trip down.
Devin Booker took over the ball-handling duties from Green although the play never quite developed out coach Ott would have liked. A pair of screens from Ighodaro and Royce O’Neale half-heartedly happening, but surely not in the way coach wanted.
The Suns failed to score with Booker turning down a relatively open 3-point effort when halfway into his shooting motion, instead giving the ball up to Ighodaro. When he got it right back and took a less open three, you knew it wasn’t going in.
From there this team got tight offensively and nothing came easy, although the Trail Blazers deserve some credit for how difficult they made it for the Suns. There was no Collin Gillespie x-factor on this occasion as there had been against the same opponent several times this season.
Home court advantage counts for a lot, but when a game is slipping away those groans can be a negative. The fans are surely going to know what’s on the line next time out, and it is more than just win or go home.
The Suns facing the very real possibility of becoming the first seventh seed to fail to make the playoffs. Should that happen, you better believe there will be bigger roster changes than we might have expected coming this summer.
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