agreed! the ideal playoff seeding for the rockets is: (1)gsw vs (8) okc (4) bazers vs (5) spurs (spurs with HCA) (2) rockets vs (7) mavs (3) grizzlies vs (6) clippers the mavs and blazers are the best matchups for us to get out of the first round, but the second seed gives us a better chance at making the WCF. the grizz could take care of the clippers for us and we could beat the grizz in round 2. the spurs would take care of the warriors for us, and we could face them in the WCF. that's our best chance at advancing to the finals: mavs, grizz, spurs.
I don't know about maneuvering into the 5th spot intentionally, but the Rockets could very well wind up there if they drop both games to the Spurs. That would put them at 26 losses, tied with the Clippers and Spurs, but without the tiebreaker against either. So that would drop them to 6th. But Memphis has 25 losses right now and their next 4 are NOP, @UTA, @LAC, @GSW. If they lose at least 2 of those, they drop to 6th and the Rockets move up to 5th. Assuming the Rockets can win their remaining 3 games after the Spurs 2-gamer(NOP, @CHA, UTA) and San Antonio and LA win out, they lock down the 5th seed and have homecourt over Portland.
Tonight's game has got to be the biggest game of the season for Rockets with Spurs coming off of a back to back, you can bet the world that the Spurs want that 2nd seed badly. A lot hinging on this game for both teams tonight, but would be a big blow to Spurs if they lost it IMO.
Only fools would rather play Mavs then Blazers. We never learn. They've been saving Novitzki whole year. On the other note: if we can't beat Mavs, we should never use Rockets and championship in the same sentence while with this roster.
bumping for updates.... this whole division title and 2nd seed aren't looking so good. i think the clippers and spurs win out, and the only way to avoid dropping below both (and maybe even the grizz too) is to win out ourselves. this is going to be tough. the game on friday will define our entire season. also, i wouldn't sleep on the hungry pelicans trying to hold onto the playoffs. i think a loss on friday will bump up down to 5th (by seasons end), while a loss against the spurs and pellies will drop us to 6th.
Pretty much. It's why I get so infuriated with those losses, and even more pissed when people say "it's just one game." Yea that one game might cost us the 2 seed.
I'm thinking at this point it almost surely will cost us the 2 seed. I agree. The people who downplay losses against teams we should beat every time don't get it. You just can't drop those when you play in the West.
If the Rockets win their last 3 games(and they better!), then we're probably looking at the 2nd seed and the Mavs or the 5th seed and the Blazers with home court in both scenarios. I'd be very surprised if Memphis didn't lose at least 2 games on their road trip. And even if they beat the Clippers, we'd still be guaranteed not to wind up in 6th place. It all comes down to the game on Friday against the Spurs. Win that and you're probably the 2nd seed. Lose and you're probably the 5th seed barring the Pelicans doing us a huge favor and knocking off San Antonio in the regular season finale.
Yes, I agree. We are for sure not going to see the Warirors, OKC/Pel in the first round. Very unlikely we are going to see the Spurs or Clippers in the first round. We might see Griz, but very small chance. So it comes down to the Mavs or Portland. Hey, I would take Portland.
Better get used to playing the Spurs. We just lost the second seed... It's either 3 or 6 and either way it's SA
I can live with a close loss to Memphis. Losses to teams like Orlando and LAL are unacceptable, and they're the reason the Rockets are hanging on for dear life for HCA to begin with.
