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Behind the brilliant play of Damian Lillard, the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, which effectively eliminated the New Orleans Pelicans from playoff contention.
Lillard scored 51 points to lead the Trail Blazers to the 124-121 win over the Sixers to help keep Portland in the playoff race. With the win, the Trail Blazers moved half of a game behind the Memphis Grizzlies in eighth place with two games to play.
The matchup between the Trail Blazers and 76ers featured plenty of playoff implications. Teams still alive in the playoff race were in need of a Trail Blazers loss to tighten the gap in the standings, including the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.
Sorry, @Suns.#Summer76 pic.twitter.com/EYFitW2BjD
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) August 10, 2020
The Pelicans entered Sunday needing a win to hold onto its faint playoff hopes but after losing to the Spurs, they were one Trail Blazers victory away from becoming eliminated from postseason contention. Now, the NBA Playoffs will not feature the Pelicans and Zion Williamson.
The 22-team return to play model designed by the NBA was in large part to ensure Williamson and Pelicans would be included. The team had the easiest schedule of any team at the Wide World of Sports Complex but have posted a 2-4 record in the season restart and have struggled.
With the Grizzlies losing on Sunday, a play-in game will take place as the team that finishes in ninth place will be within four games of the team in eighth place, which, currently, would be between the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers.
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