The Grizzlies locked up the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a convincing win over the Mavericks on Friday night in Memphis.
The Grizzlies scored the first seven points of the game and built a double-digit lead within the first five minutes. They never trailed en route to a 120-106 victory, locking up the No. 8 seed in the West and lining up a first-round series with the top-seeded Thunder.
Jaren Jackson Jr. (24 points, seven rebounds), Ja Morant (22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds), and Desmond Bane (22 points, nine assists) led the way for the Grizzlies, overcoming a 40-point performance by Dallas big man Anthony Davis.
While the Heat became the first No. 10 seed to win back-to-back play-in games earlier in the night, the No. 10 Mavericks couldn’t repeat that feat, bringing a tumultuous season in Dallas to a close. The Western play-in tournament played out largely as expected, with the No. 7 Warriors and No. 8 Grizzlies entering the playoffs with the same seeds they held at the end of the regular season.
Memphis’ win was crucial for the Wizards, who will now receive the Grizzlies’ first-round pick — it will be either No. 18, 19, or 20, depending on the results of a Monday tiebreaker. If the Grizzlies had lost on Friday, Washington would have instead received a pair of future second-round picks, since that first-rounder was top-14 protected.
The Mavericks will now be a lottery team and will end up either 11th or 12th in the pre-lottery draft order, depending on the results of a tiebreaker with Chicago.
While the Grizzlies will be significant underdogs against the 68-win Thunder in round one, it’s worth noting that Memphis was the second seed in the West for weeks at a time during the season, including as late as February 28. If the Grizzlies, who went 35-16 prior to the trade deadline, can recapture that form, they have a chance to make it a competitive series.