NBA

The Suns’ one simple mistake led to Play-In loss to Blazers

by
Tanner Tortorella
April 15, 2026

Apr 2, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Phoenix Suns Head Coach Jordan Ott talks with his team at a timeout during the second quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns were up double digits with under seven minutes to go against the Portland Trail Blazers in the Play-In game. Phoenix just needed to survive the final stretch to secure its spot in the postseason, but as the lead shrunk, head coach Jordan Ott to try and get experimental with the lineup. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst highlighted this decision on First Take for Ott to go the final three minutes without a center and go small.

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Oso Ighodaro and Mark Williams were on the bench when Portland would go on an 11-5 run in the final 2:29, with All-Star Deni Avdija penetrating the paint with ease.

Apr 14, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first half during the play-in rounds of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Windhorst on what let to Suns’ loss:

"The Suns did not have a rim protector. They did not have a rim protector in the game at the end of the game, which is why Deni saw that and absolutely took advantage of it and punished the Suns for playing small. The Spurs will not be playing small. They will be playing very… pic.twitter.com/tYa8QdvNLI

— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) April 15, 2026

Avdija scored or assisted on the Trail Blazer’s final seven points and he achieved that feat by attacking the heart of the Suns defense. Without a seven-footer on the floor, the 25-year-old was able to get to the rim with ease. The most blatant one was with 16 seconds left, Avdija had a mismatch of Jordan Goodwin on him, who was giving up five inches, and sliced pass and attacked Dillon Brooks on the help for the And-one.

The bucket proved to be the dagger and took Brooks out of the game for the final possession for Phoenix, as he committed his sixth foul on Avdija. Brooks foul trouble forced Ott’s hand to put a smaller defender like Goodwin on a player the caliber of Avdija. However, the decision to not have a player like Williams or Ighodaro in Brooks position on the floor as the help defender was self-inflicted.

Apr 14, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday (5) drives to the basket against Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams (15) in the second half during the play-in rounds of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Williams didn’t play all the fourth quarter and had a plus/minus of -8 in the third quarter, leading to Ott’s decision to bench him for the rest of the game. Ighodaro was a 12 in the second half and was clearly causing a positive impact while on the floor. Portland’s size is their biggest strength and going small gave it a chance to close the gap and win the game, which it didn’t waste.

Phoenix plays the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors on Friday. Either matchup would be a better idea for the Suns to run the small-ball lineup against rosters’ with weaker size. Or Ott could decide to keep the combination of Williams and Ighodaro as the big man rotation, that has worked all year and nearly led them to a Play-In win on Tuesday.