Laker-Haters must now root AGAINST the T-Wolves

I'll go along with that. Down with the T-Wolves! I'll also point out that the Spurs can take Phoenix's fourth seed easily enough which will be good so that they can be better rested when the Lakers show up. We play and will no doubt beat Phoenix next Tuesday. Go Rockets!

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I am with you guys on this. I want to see both Fakers & Portland bow out before reaching the finals.

Looking at the remaining schedule:

Phoenix (50-27)
Have games with (Van, LAC, Utah, Hou, @GS) with Van being the tail end of a back to backs (B2B) and Hou & GS being B2B.
Suns beats Van & LAC.
Suns should beat Utah. It will not be an import game for Utah.
JV, I hope you are wrong, we need those balls! With that said, I do think we have a good chance to win because Francis is always high on games against teams with top-notched PGs. He will probably come away with a 30pt, 7ast, 7reb, 3stl, 2blk game.
Even though it is at GS and is the back side of a B2B, Suns will win. GS needs their balls too.
Suns goes 4-1 and ends the season 54-28.

San Antonio (50-28)
Have games with (Por, Utah, Van, Fakers) with no B2B.
SA should beat Por because it is more meaningful for SA, but Por has dropped 3 out of last 5. On top of that, Por lost to the lowly Dallas (Finely made Quitten looked bad! ). So, I think Por will try to redeem themselves. I think Por will win in a close one.
Utah is pretty much a lock for the division title with a 3 game lead and 2 more games against the LAC & Denver. It is an NBC game and no one wants to look bad, but I am sure Utah wants to rest Malone & Stockton, so I will give it to SA.
SA wins over Van.
SA against Fakers on TBS, this will be an interesting game. We all know Shaq hates the Admiral, but it is a meaningless game for LA, so SA wins.
SA goes 3-1 and ends the season 53-29.

If SA & Pho ends the season tied, I think SA has the tie breaker. SA & Pho split during the season, but SA has a 2.5 game lead in conference play.

Minnesota (48-29)
Have games with (@Sea, @Van, @LAL, @GS, Dal) with LAL & GS being B2B.
Will lose to Sea because Sea really really wants to avoid playing the Fakers and also because Sea has lost their last 3 games.
Will beat Van.
Will beat LAL on NBC because Fakers are resting players.
@GS should be an upset because it is a B2B and Wolves are coming off an emotional high (beating Fakers), but GS needs balls, ... so Wolves win.
Wolves find out that they can't get better than a 6th place, so they rest their players. Dallas pulls a Houston and wins.
Wolves goes 3-2 and ends the season 51-31.

I do believe SA is the only team that have a legitimate shot at the Fakers. I used to think the Blazers will give LA a run for it, but I have a feeling that Blazers won't make it past the 2nd round.

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Who would you prefer the Fakers to face in the 1st round, Sacramento or Seattle?

Sacramento (43-34)
Have games with (GS, @LAL, @Por, Sea, @Utah) with GS & LAL and Sea & Utah being B2B.
Beats GS (Damn, GS is doing great with those balls! )
Knowing that they may face each other, Fakers makes a statement on TNT.
Was pissed at losing to Fakers, beats Portland on NBC.
Wants to avoid the Fakers, a must win against Sea, ... will win on TNT.
Too tired from the last 3 games and Utah wants to end with a winning note ... pick-n-roll wins on TBS.
Kings goes 3-2 and ends the season 46-36.

Seattle (42-35)
Have games with (Min, @Dal, @Hou, @Sac, LAC) with Sac & LAC being B2B.
As I stated earlier, they need a win after 3 losses, so they beat Min.
Will beat Dallas because Mavs have won 6 straight (Yes, I am predicting the Mavs to beat us. Woo Hoo, more balls! )
Will beat us because they want revenge. Glove lits up Francis and gets Francis ejected.
Loses to Sac (see above).
Redeem theirselves and beats Clippers.
Sonics goes 4-1 and ends the season 46-36.

After the Kings beats Seattle on the 18th, Kings will lead the season series with a 3-2 record. Hence, Kings win the tie-breaker

I personally would like to see the Kings meet up with the Fakers, I think with Divac & Webber, at least the Kings will have a slim chance against Shaq Fu.

 

I hope the Lakers play the Kings in the first round because the Sonics look just awful right now. I doubt they could win a single playoff game, regardless of who they played. However, because they suck so bad now, they probably will be playing the Lakers, so LA will have a cakewalk through round 1. So I'm pinning my hopes on SA having an easy time with Phoenix so they can be just as rested as the Lakers for Round 2.

Also, you're right about Portland I think. The way they look recently, I wonder if they'll even get out of the first round.

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Ok, we got our wish. Now SA must win at least one of the remaining game, because Minn has the tie-breaker.

Wolves have @GS and Dallas left, which should mean 2 wins. SA have the Grizzs & Fakers left. SA should and must win against the Grizzs.

I am still hoping for the Kings to get the 8th seed. Yes, Payton will give LA hell, but he can't do it alone. I don't see anyone else on that team that will step up for the challenge. Grant is undersize against Shaq. I think Lewis will faulter in his first playoff. Self proclaimed Kobe Killer, Ruben Patterson, has not played well in the last 1/2 of the season. Baker will underachieve like his regular season. Sonics would be done in 3 games, all blow-outs.

As for the Kings, I think with Divac's mid-range shot, he can pull Shaq out of the middle on defense. I also think the Kings have a better group of players (Divac, Pollard, Funderburke, Webber) to "wear" down Shaq. I think the King have a good chance to win 1 game. If not, at least punish Shaq a little bit before they go to the 2nd round.

For Kings to be in the 8th spot, Seattle MUST win Tue's nights game against the Kings. The winner of that game wins the tie-breakers. Kings will have the Jass for the final game of the season, where as the Sonics will have the Clippers. This last game is meaningless. Seattle MUST win at Sacramento!!!

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Go Rockets!

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