As of March 12, we have: 3Portland Trail Blazers 41-26 4Oklahoma City Thunder 40-29 5New Orleans Pelicans 38-28 6Minnesota Timberwolves 39-29 7LA Clippers 36-29 8Utah Jazz 37-30 Denver Nuggets 37-30 San Antonio Spurs 37-30 Los Angeles Lakers 30-36 With the 3rd to 10th seed so close in record, it is possible to meet any of the teams in either 1st or 2nd round! So which of the above teams will most challenge Rockets?
Utah is good but they're way too easy to guard to pose any serious problems. I've still gotta say SA. They know how to guard Harden. And as poor as the surrounding cast can look offensively, they aren't that bad, and if Kawhi is healthy, they will be really tough on that end of the court. But, we did get the Kawhi-stopper in Luc, another guy who can compete with his mid-range game in PJ, and CEE-PEE-THREE(home play announcer voice). So I still feel GOOD about any series other than one with GS.
none of them. ain't no team will post a challenge to us until we face worriers in the west final. my prediction for playoff( 4-0, 4-0, 4-2, 4-0)
Based on matchups: Moderate threats: Spurs and Pelicans Minor threats: Jazz and Nuggets Wildcard: Thunder Irrelevant: Portland, Minnesota, Los Angeles x2
If Spurs have everybody back, very likely they will be 4/5 and we will have another second round match up with them. But this time, with cp3 and co added, we can finish them in 5 or 6.
Portland by default. They are the only team that's not torn apart by trades , injuries or just not good enough. Tho they are playing very good ball right now. Most definitely a HEALTHY San Antonio squad would top my list - Pop is the master but I don't think they are ever gonna be healthy. Minny was playing fantastic till that injury to Butler. They don't scare anyone without him. New Orleans has had the Rockets number , until Cousins went down .... The Clippers beat the Rockets twice but that isn't the same team after the trades. Utah .... nah , they don't have enough. Westbrook is the anti-team player .... playing for stats not wins. Denver nor LA have the firepower to match up.
