More Likely: Lose in the First Round or Get Out of the Second Round?

If hardens gets healthy then we can beat anyone

 

The Rockets will win their 1st round series. I think they'd play San Antonio very tough in the 2nd round. We'd be underdogs in that series, but I'd still give us like a 40% chance of beating them.

The Rockets aren't beating GS unless they add a player like Paul George to the roster without losing much of the core. Harden just isn't capable of beating them in a 7 game series by himself with no other star around him. No player in the NBA is good enough to pull that off.

 

Agree 100%

 

God as much as I hate that comment, it's the truth. I'm butt hurt. But still being optimistic.

 

I am firmly in the camp that neither will happen - I've expected a second-round exit since the January slump and nothing has changed my mind yet. But I'd certainly expect that barring a season-breaking injury, the odds of making the conference finals would be higher than those of flaming out against the Thunder or Clippers.

 

Getting bounced in the first round forsure... the more I think about it, the more I can buy into the narrative of all the aforementioned things happening. IF the Rockets end up getting matched up against the LAC or UTAH it could be a very long series for us. OKC even has the potential to go toe to toe with us, but I think OKC and MEMPHIS present an easier challenge.

I could see us losing in the first round..... sadly.

As far as the 2nd round in is concerned, I do not think we can beat the SA SPURS. Punchers chance at best. I put that possibility at 20%. We will be severely out coached. I think we can push it to 7 games. We sure as hell cannot beat the GS WARRIORS.... Hell would have to freeze over. We are not good enough to play with them, yet. 6 games MAX.

 

Uh, this is the Rockets we're talking about. Of course a first round exit is more likely than getting to the WCF or beyond. I think if healthy, the Rockets would beat the Thunder, Grizzlies, or Clippers. The Jazz are a tossup. But on the flipside, they could lose to any of those teams. And I wouldn't even necessarily call it an upset if that happened. The West is pretty solid from 1-7.

 

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OKC does not have the potential to go toe to toe with us if we play at our best. Their only realistic shot is if they over power us with their huge front court otherwise we will run them out of the gym over a 7 game series.The team I hope we don't meet is Utah if they fall to the 6th spot. They are a matchup nightmare for us. Rodney Hood seems to turns into Jordan when he sees us and along with Gobert and Hayward they are always killing us.

 

How about loose in the 2nd? I love this team bc they can score but the 3 ball is the only way they seem to be able to score. Last night we saw GS not only shoot 3's but also cut to the basket for wide open dunks and layups. Rockets on the other hand stood out at the 3 point line waiting for Harden to decide what to do, the only person I saw move was Dekker which he sometimes gets b****ed out by his teammates for cutting to the basket for an open dunk and not staying at the 3 point line. Morey's genius idea of "outscoring the opponent" method didn't work agaisnt GS so I hope the next game we find other ways to score bc if we continue to shoot 3's we HAVE TO shoot it way better at a consistent rate.

 

LBJ did it agaisnt a 73 win GS Team

 

LBJ had Kyrie who averaged 27 ppg in that series, and even then, he had to come back from a 3-1 deficit which rarely ever happens in the playoffs, let alone the finals. Harden is no Lebron, and Harden has no Kyrie.

 

Who knows. It could be anywhere from a first round upset. But I don't think so. I think we win the first round. Then I would not simply write off the grizz vs spurs. Grizz are tough. Maybe they pull a clippers and knock the spurs out. Doesn't mean we beat them in 7 but I like our chances better against the grizz than the spurs. Spurs are just a well oiled disciplined organization. But they are old. If we can force our pace perhaps we can wear out parker and Manu. Kawhi. Well he will be a stud. Simple as that. Only team I have zero hope against is Golden state. We play Golden State it will be another 4-1 dismissal. We will squeak out a win in game 4 to avoid the sweep and go back to oracle and be officially castrated and we might be allowed to carry about balls home in a jar.

 

For some reason I just don't think our team is built for the playoffs

something feels iffy about this team. Like the second year Dwight was here, I felt like we would smash anyone in the first round no matter what, or in 2009 when Yao was here I felt like we would win the chip.

The style we play is just like cross your fingers every game.

 

Oh, well, I think we will play OKC or Griz.

Either of those two teams don't scare me that much based on regular season games this year.

Could we lose to them 4 times in the first round, yes. But I don't see how on paper they could beat us 4 times.

2nd round, likely the Spurs. Man, that's tough, and no HCA. But in all games we played them this year, they were all close games down the wire. They are the favorite, but we have a decent shot.

Stay positive.

 

ceiling = roof.

 

I would guess we are big favorites in 1st round and slight dogs in the 2nd

 

We will see. They might need to cut back take "the first open shot" or "attack when defense is not set". Tempo is very important for the playoff.

 

The question this poll is really asking:

 

I'm willing to wager a $20 tip jar bet that we DO make the WCF.

I absolutely do not see a first round loss even if we somehow played utah who is our biggest match-up problem.

I also think we can and will beat the spurs.