Deni Avdija scored 41 points, and his three-point play with 16.1 seconds remaining capped the Portland Trail Blazers' comeback from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit for a 114-110 victory over the host Phoenix Suns in a play-in game on Tuesday.

The Trail Blazers ended a four-year playoff drought and will open a ⁠best-of- seven Western Conference playoff series against the No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

The Suns will have another chance to make the playoffs on Friday, when they will host the winner of the Wednesday play-in game between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers.

That winner of the Friday contest will be the No. 8 seed and will meet the defending league champion and No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in the first game of a seven-game set on ⁠Sunday.

Jordan Goodwin sank a reserve layup with 32.5 seconds left to ⁠put the Suns up 110-109, but ⁠he missed a free throw after being fouled on the play. The Blazers rebounded and called timeout to set up Avdija's drive through the lane.

Phoenix's Jalen ⁠Green missed a 3-point attempt with 8.9 seconds remaining.

On the rebound, Portland's Matisse Thybulle stole the ball from Goodwin and found Jerami Grant alone for a dunk with six-tenths of a second remaining.

Avdija had 14 points in the fourth quarter, and he finished with ⁠12 assists and seven rebounds.

Jrue Holiday added 21 points and Grant had 16, including two late 3-pointers as the Blazers finished the game on a 17-5 run.

Green scored 35 points, Devin Booker had 22 and Dillon Brooks added 20 for the Suns.

The Suns trailed 83-82 entering the fourth quarter but scored the first 11 points for a 10-point edge, extending a longer 24-4 run that began after Avdija made a layup to give the Blazers a 79-69 lead midway through the third quarter.

Holiday and Avdija ⁠hit 3-pointers as the Blazers closed the deficit to 100-97 with 4:15 left before Donovan Clingan was called for a flagrant-1 foul for pulling Brooks down on Avdija's make.

Grant made a 3-pointer and Shaedon Sharpe hit two free throws with 2:29 left, bringing the Trail Blazers within 105-104 with 2:29 left.

Grant's next trey put the Blazers in front 107-106 before Booker's free throws gave the Suns a 108-107 lead with ⁠1:34 to go. After a Portland turnover and a Booker miss, Avdija hit a driving lap for a 109-108 lead with 37.3 seconds remaining prior to Goodwin's layup.



Edited by Tony Sabine