With news of the Minnesota Timberwolves' loss tonight to the Utah Jazz, the Portland Trail Blazers (47-29) are officially playoff bound for the fifth consecutive season. The Jazz went into Target Center on Sunday night and put a 121-97 beatdown on the Wolves, which helped the Blazers secure a playoff spot heading into tonight's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

However, rookie forward Zach Collins and the rest of the Blazers' focus right now remains on getting payback for their underwhelming 108-103 road loss to the lowly Grizzlies (21-55) earlier this week without the services of star point guard Damian Lillard.

“We have to get Memphis back for that one. We felt like we shouldn't have lost that game at Memphis. We should have finished that road trip strong,” Collins said. “They're playing free and loose right now,” Collins said. “They're getting up and down (with a fast-break offense). We have to be ready for that.”

Article Continues Below

With Lillard back in the lineup following the birth of his son this week, he and shooting guard C.J. McCollum get to continue being one of the NBA's best backcourt duos. McCollum approached tonight's Easter Sunday game at Moda Center with the mentality that the Grizzlies were going to give Portland another tough game.

“We know they're going to go out there and play hard,” McCollum said. “They have a lot of guys trying to compete for minutes, to establish themselves in the NBA or to get new contracts.”

The Blazers also got help towards clinching a playoff spot earlier today when the New Orleans Pelicans lost 109-104 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which was their fourth straight loss.