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Unless you're really concerned about the Golden State Warriors getting rusty between series, there really is no reason to want the Memphis Grizzlies to hurry up and beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs.
If the Grizzlies wrap the series up in six games or less, Game 1 of the second round will begin on Sunday; if the Grizzlies-Blazers series goes seven games, Game 1 will begin Tuesday.
Unless Memphis-Portland goes to Game 7, Warriors will play the Grizzlies on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on ABC
— Marcus Thompson (@ThompsonScribe) April 29, 2015
Just making it to a Game 7 would make the 2015 Blazers just the fourth team to even recover from a 3-0 deficit, which is something that rarely happens in any sport. As fun as it is to witness something historic happen (remember We Believe?), we can pretty much count on the second round beginning on Sunday.
However, the one thing that might dramatically impact the outcome of this series is the health of Mike Conley, who missed Game 4 and still has no (public) timetable for a return.
Would an extended absence for Conley guarantee a seventh game? Hardly — Portland would still have to win in Memphis tonight — but it offers some hope for a Blazers team that didn't look to have much through most of three games.
Of course it's to the Grizzlies' advantage to remain as vague as possible on the subject of Conley so perhaps we'll learn a bit more about his status tonight, if Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry is correct.
Gentry to KNBR: "Unless they tell (Mike Conley) there's a chance that he could die out there, I've got to think he's going to be out there."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) April 28, 2015
Tonight's schedule
- Brooklyn Nets vs Atlanta Hawks, 4 p.m. PST (TNT)
- Portland Trail Blazers vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 6:30 p.m. PST (TNT)
Once again, this will be your playoff open thread for the night. Vote in the (somewhat silly) poll below if you want to kill time.