"Tony Allen and Zach Randolph dressed.

They both jogged around during the pre-game, warm-up routine.

Then they sat on the Grizzlies' bench and never took the court. With two of their most dynamic players resting to nurse nagging injuries, the Griz fell to the Portland Trail Blazers, 102-89, Tuesday night in what was a battle for the Western Conference's sixth seed in the Rose Garden.

Portland locked up the sixth slot with its victory.

Finishing higher in the playoff standings wasn't as important to the Grizzlies, who fell back into the eighth slot and would take on the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs if the playoffs began today.

Memphis will end the regular season tonight on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers. It's still a night that could determine whether the Griz end up seventh or eighth.

New Orleans, the seventh seed, will face Dallas. If New Orleans and Memphis both lose, then the teams would finish with identical records. New Orleans would then be seventh because it owns the tiebreaker edge, meaning Memphis would finish eighth.

A Memphis win in the season finale coupled with a New Orleans loss means Memphis would lock up seventh place.

The Griz all but conceded sixth place and coach Lionel Hollins made no apologies."