The Portland Trail Blazers will face the New Orleans Pelicans in round one
By Ty Delbridge
Before the Portland Trail Blazers tipped off with the Utah Jazz Wednesday night, the Blazers already knew who they would be facing in the first round of the playoffs this year.
Wednesday night was a busy night in the NBA world. The Portland Trail Blazers played the Utah Jazz. The Blazers locked up the third seed, home-court advantage for the first round and won the Northwest Divison title with a 102-93 win over the Jazz.
The Blazers needed a little help and got it from the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans. The Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies and secured the fourth seed in the playoffs. The Pelicans beat the San Antonio Spurs and pushed the Spurs back to the seventh seed.
The Spurs losing was very important for the Blazers because the Spurs owned the tie-breaker over the Blazers and would have gotten home court advantage if the two teams met, even if the Blazers had the higher seed. The Blazers knew their opponent before the game with the Jazz.
Because of how things worked out in the crazy Western Conference this season, the Blazers will be facing the sixth-seeded Pelicans in the first round. The Blazers will have home-court advantage in a series for the first time since 2008 when they played the Houston Rockets.