Grizzlies game could waste Tilman's 26 million dollars if defeating by GSW in the 2nd round. conference finals Gate receipt + ads = 26 million MDA 4-year payroll 16 million + Jeff B 4-year payroll 10 million = 26 million (estimated)
Sure its possible the Jazz come out ahead of the Spurs, but I have a feeling the Spurs will win 7 or 8 more games. Just looking at opponents left I doubt Utah wins more than 6 and think the Clippers win 6 as well, 7 maybe, but not if we beat them.
HUGE win for the Rockets tonight. This leaves the Spurs effectively 5 games back since we now have the tiebreaker with only 9 games left. The division is all but sewn up. Big road win for the Thunder though. They actually have a chance to go on a run here with their upcoming schedule. They do face the Pacers and Nuggets, but both games are in OKC. It's still possible that regular season finale for the Rockets at the Thunder will have something on the line.
Our toughest teams left are MIL, DEN, LAC and OKC. We must win at least 6 of our next 8 games to stay ahead of Portland, and even though Denver has a tough schedule left catching them will be tough, and maybe not that advantageous. The difference between who takes 3rd could be that Portland plays Denver twice. The Spurs only have 1 team left to play better than Sacramento, and even losing to Denver they could easily win 7 of 8. Utah only has 2 tough teams left to play, and could also end up winning 7 of their next 8, which would put them in the 5 seed. I'm just expecting them to lose 2, and end up tied with the Spurs. My predictions are: DEN 54-28 HOU 53-29 POR 53-29 SAS 50 -32 UTA 50-32 LAC 49-33 OKC 48-32 I think the Clippers will win 5 of their next 8. I see them losing 3 with HOU, GSW, MIL, and UTA left to play. I don't see OKC winning more than 5 of their next 8, with IND, DEN, HOU, MIL, and DET left to play. I think we will be playing Utah or the Spurs 1st round, GSW playing OKC, and DEN playing the Clippers
Denver has a tough schedule the rest of the way. Can easily see them going 4-4. Would mean that the Rockets would have to win out (doable) and Portland would need to lose a game. Probably need Denver to split with Portland; would give Denver the tiebreaker and help us win any 3 way ties between Denver, Portland and us. Denver would win the season series with Portland 3-1 and be the division winner, knocking Portland out, leads to Denver and Houston tiebreaker which Houston won tonight. Houston would then end up as the 2 seed in this scenario, Denver 3rd, and Portland 4th.
We play the Clippers next and end with OKC. Outside of that we play Sac twice and Knicks and Suns so definitely doable. We need to win the final 6 to secure our position and make up for the games we threw away. Portland has just won every damn game and has a pretty easy schedule. They will lose again but we cannot. Finishing 2nd would be a HUGE morale boost to this team after the slog of a season. They know they could have been 1st. It gives you that confidence that we didn't throw everything away, we still have this, let's go do this.
has Denver had a 4-4 stretch all year? They have been consistently very good all year, hard to see them go .500 all of a sudden
I just had a look at the nuggets remaining schedule and wow it’s hard. I think if we take care of our business we can easily get the second seed.
Denver and Portland still have the inside track. Even if we win out, the best we can get is 54 wins. Denver needs to only win 5 of 8 to get to 55 while Portland needs to win 7 of 8 to get to 54. For Denver to lose 4 or more, would likely require they lose @OKC, @GSW, and 2x to Portland (dont see them losing at home to Wizards, Spurs or Wolves, while @Jazz is dubious). If Denver loses to OKC (which gives GSW a cushion in conference games), I wont be surprised if GSW loses the game to keep Denver at #2 and make our route harder as a #3. Finally, 2 wins against Denver by Portland, makes it easier for Portland to get to 54 wins. I am fine with Denver being the #2 seed and rockets #3, as they the most likely to suffer an upset in the first round, meaning the #3 seed would still have home court. Bonus would be to avoid OKC in the first round and semis.
They lost 6 of 7 in November and lost 4 of 5 recently between Feb 28 to Mar 8 (Utah, NO, @SA, @GS). They’ve also lost 2 of their last 3 (@IND, @HOU). Remaining schedule: Tonight: @OKC Sunday: WAS Tues: @GS Wed: SA Fri: Port Sun: @Port Tues: @UTA Wed: Min
I could easily see the Nuggets losing at the Thunder on a B2B and at Golden State on Tuesday. The question is will they lose 2 of their 3 games remaining with Portland and Utah? Without Nurkic, that becomes a tough matchup for the Blazers. I guess the upside is if Denver takes both against the Blazers, that helps the Rockets in their quest to secure the 3rd seed. So we win either way. But I do agree that getting the 2nd seed likely requires the Rockets to win out and that's a tall order. That game at the Clippers next week on a B2B will be brutal.
I can’t be the only one that wants to see them in the 4/5 bracket. Play GS when as fresh as possible.
Now is the time to stay healthy. We need James, Clint, Paul and Gordon healthy in the playoffs!!! If we play like last night I don't care who we face. We can do this. When Paul was out we lost 42% of our games. We were 14/10 without him. In the 4 games James was out we lost 2 which is 50%. When Clint was out we lost 40% of our games going 9/6. With Gordon out we lost 36% of our games going 9/5. Stay Strong and Carry On!! Go Rockets!!!
You might not be the only one, but you're probably in a tiny minority. I'd much rather face Denver or whomever upsets them in the Semifinals than the Warriors. Besides, the longer we avoid Golden State, the greater the likelihood that someone either knocks them out or softens them up for us before the WCF.
I can see GSW dropping a convenient loss, just to screw the Rox. GSW is the only team (maybe the Rox too) that can survive without total HC advantage.
Yep. There is no team in the West, other than the Rockets, that will knock out the Worriers. I wish that wasn't the case, but that is just reality -- those f*ckers steamroll teams in the playoffs. A lot of people had high hopes for Nola last year after it swept Portland. Well, Bola turnout to be a mosquito on a elephant's arse. There is only one team and that's the Rockets. I know it has been an up and down year, but the fact that the Rockets has the 2nd best defense since the break gives me really high hopes this is the year.
We're closer and likelier to get the 4 seed than the 2 seed. I'm thinking depending upon how many games Portland loses that they shouldnt and the Rockets lose that they shouldn't will determine who's 3 and who's 4.
