Pacers Clinch Playoff Spot With Blazers Win

The Indiana Pacers didn't even have to play on Tuesday night to ensure they avoided extra games in this spring's Eastern Conference play-in tournament.

As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star observes, Indiana were poised to lock in a playoff berth on Tuesday, even though the team wasn't actually playing a game.

The Pacers missed 10 3-pointers in Monday's fourth quarter including seven that could've either tied the game or given them the lead. The fact that they kept the Kings close until the 3s they made finally mattered speaks to why they're a playoff team: https://t.co/0NDV1VHJXi
— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) April 1, 2025

The No. 7-seeded Atlanta Hawks were facing off against the Portland Trail Blazers. At 36-38 on the year, Atlanta was 7.5 games behind the Pacers, then 44-31. With a loss to Portland, Atlanta would have proven unable to surpass Indiana, meaning the Pacers would officially have secured a top-six record in the Eastern Conference.

After a really solid start to 2025, the Trail Blazers had lost four in a row. Health hasn't been on their side as the 2024-25 season wraps up.

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According to a recent league injury report, starting Portland center Deandre Ayton was ruled out for the game with a lingering calf strain (he's been shelved since February), while key reserve guard Scoot Henderson was also on the shelf with a concussion.

All-Defensive Team Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III will miss the rest of the regular season with a left knee injury, and two-way player Bryce McGowens is also done for the year thanks to a fractured right rib.

Starting power forward Jerami Grant did not return to the lineup due to an inflamed right knee, while starting point guard Anfernee Simons sat out with a right forearm contusion.

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The Hawks are not without their own health problems, however.

Four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young was playing through right Achilles tendinitis.

Trae Young (Achilles) probable for Tuesday.
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) March 31, 2025

But starting forward Jalen Johnson (left shoulder surgery), key backup bigs Clint Capela (left fourth metacarpal ligament sprain) and Larry Nance Jr. (right medial femoral condyle fracture), combo guard Kobe Bufkin (right shoulder surgery) and two-way players Jacob Toppin (sore right calf) and Keaton Wallace (right shoulder AC sprain) had all been ruled out already.

In a surprise, an ailing Portland squad knocked off Atlanta, 127-113, thanks to a 33-point game from shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe, and a 32-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double masterpiece from forward Deni Avdija. The game helped Indiana clinch a playoff appearance and avoid the play-in this year yet again.

Dopirak noted on Tuesday that Indiana needed to win just four more games to surpass the 47-35 season finish of last year's Eastern Conference Finals-bound club. The team is now 45-31 on the year. Indiana boasts a three-game cushion on the No. 5-seeded Detroit Pistons in its quest for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

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