Magic Number Thread

I wonder what the potential of knocking the Grizzlies down to 4th place is. Could you beak down the MEM-ROX tie-breaker?

 

Playoff tiebreakers are as follows:

1. Head to Head(Season series was split 2-2 so cancels out)
2. Division record(As of today Memphis is 7-6 against SW division. Rockets are 5-6)
3. Conference Record(As of today Memphis is 28-13 against the West. Rockets are 25-16)
4. Record against West playoff teams
5. Record against East playoffs teams

Grizzlies have 16 games left(11 against West teams, 3 against SW division teams)
Rockets have 16 games left(11 against West teams, 5 against SW division teams)

Rockets best chance would be to win the rest of their division games and hope Memphis slips up in at least 2 of their last 3 division games.

 

                                   Games  H2H        Div          Con   Overall    Magic
    Team          W/L   L10   H2H   Left   TB   Div   TB    Conf   TB  Tiebreak   Number  Diff
1   Warriors    52-13   8-2   0-4   None    L               30-8    L       No*       26   (-1)
2   Grizzlies   46-20   5-5   2-2   None    T   7-6    L   28-13    L        No       19   (-1)
3   Blazers     44-20   8-2   1-2   None    L              24-14    L       No*       19   (-1)
4   Rockets     44-22   6-4                     5-6        25-16                           
5   Spurs       41-24   7-3   1-1  1H,1A    T   4-6    W   23-18    W       Yes       15   (-1)
6   Clippers    42-25   5-5   2-2   None    T              28-13    L        No       14   (-2)
7   Mavericks   42-25   5-5   2-1     1A    W   6-6    L   22-17    W       Yes       14   (-1)
8   Thunder     37-29   6-4   2-0     1A    W              20-20    W      Yes*        9   (-1)
9   Pelicans    36-30   7-3   0-2  1H,1A    L   7-5    L   21-16    W        No        9   (-2)
10  Suns        35-33   5-5   3-0     1H    W              17-22    W      Yes*        5   (-1)
11  Jazz        29-36   8-2   2-1     1H    W              15-22    W       Yes        3   (-1)

* Indicates the Tie Break is final

Clinched the #11 seed

Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/16.

Huge win agains the Clippers
The Rockets won their second straight game against the Clippers behind a great performance by our MVP candidate James Harden who finished with 34/7/7. Houston shot very poorly from the field, but managed to hold the whiners from L.A. to only 8 offensive boards, made some big plays on the defensive end in crunchtime and came away with a 100-98 win. Finally, we see more Magic Numbers dropping again.

Easy wins for closest teams
Portland and San Antonio didn't have any problems with their opponents tonight. The Trail Blazers beat the Raptors 113-97 while San Antonio crushed Minnesota 123-97 and moves up to the #5 seed.

Advantage Thunder
OKC outrebounded the Bulls badly (Joakim Noah had a D-Mo'esque performance with 3 boards in 31 minutes) while Westbrook scored 36 and Enes Kanter had 18/18 and managed to win 109-100. For Chicago, Nikola Mirotic continued his hot streak with 27 points.
The Pelicans on the other hand fell short in second overtime against the Denver Nuggets despite a very impressive statline by Anthony Davis who put up 36 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists and 9 blocks! Tyreke Evans also finished just short of a triple-double with 25/9/10. But nice bench contributions for Denver in form of Jameer Nelson (18 points) and Will Barton (25 points) helped the Nuggets to win 118-111.

Monday games

Trail Blazers at Wizards, Nuggets at Grizzlies, Thunder at Mavericks, Hornets at Jazz, Lakers at Warriors

 

Repped for the detail info. Thanks.

That's tough to win two more SW division games than the Grizzlies. To win three more games out of the rest 16 is not easy to do either. So the chance of letting GSW, OKC, and MEM to duel out before the Rockets meet them is quite slim. Lost two games in a roll last week was tough... Oh well...

 

                                   Games  H2H        Div          Con   Overall    Magic
    Team          W/L   L10   H2H   Left   TB   Div   TB    Conf   TB  Tiebreak   Number  Diff
1   Warriors    53-13   8-2   0-4   None    L               31-8    L       No*       26   
2   Grizzlies   47-20   6-4   2-2   None    T   7-6    L   29-13    L        No       19   
3   Blazers     44-21   8-2   1-2   None    L              24-14    L       No*       18   (-1)
4   Rockets     44-22   6-4                     5-6        25-16                           
5   Mavericks   43-25   5-5   2-1     1A    W   6-6    L   23-17    W       Yes       14   
6   Spurs       41-24   7-3   1-1  1H,1A    T   4-6    W   23-18    W       Yes       15   
7   Clippers    42-25   5-5   2-2   None    T              28-14    L        No       14   
8   Thunder     37-30   5-5   2-0     1A    W              20-21    W      Yes*        8   (-1)
9   Pelicans    36-30   7-3   0-2  1H,1A    L   7-5    L   21-16    W        No        9   
10  Suns        35-33   5-5   3-0     1H    W              17-22    W      Yes*        5   
11  Jazz        30-36   9-1   2-1     1H    W              15-22    W       Yes        3   

* Indicates the Tie Break is final

Clinched the #11 seed

Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/16.

Top two teams prevail
The Warriors and the Grizzlies both found themselves in games that were closer than expected. Memphis pulled away in the fourth against Denver and won 92-81. The main factor in the win was a 20-rebound advantage. The Los Angeles Lakers just kept scoring with the Warriors, but ultimately fell shot 105-108.
The team with the third best record in the West however fell short last night: John Wall led his Wizards with a near triple-double of 21/9/11 to a victory against the visiting Trail Blazers. LMA had a good 24/12 game, but Damien Lillard just couldn't hit much (5-18 from the field) and Portland lost 97-105. The door to the third spot is open with Portland being just one loss ahead of the Rockets.

Rested Mavericks hand OKC big loss
A great game by Chandler Parsons was one of the factors in this home win by Dallas against Oklahoma City. The forward scored 31 points on 10-14 shooting, Nowitzki and Ellis were the two other Dallas players to top 20 points. That was too much for Russell Westbrook to overcome, the guard had a nice 24/8/12 statline with 4 steals, but also committed 7 turnovers. OKC allowed 66 points in the second half and fell short 115-119.

Jazz defense kills Hornets
66 points. 29.5% shooting. That's what the Hornets' offense achieved against Rudy Gobert (22 rebounds—again) and his troops. Jazz rookie Rodney Hood scored a career high 24 points while hitting all of his 5 attempts from downtown. After three quarters, the score was 85-46, the final result of 94-66 doesn't look quite as bad for Charlotte.

Tuesday games
Five west-east-matchups tonight, the Rockets go up against Orlando. If they want to get to the third seed, that's a must-win. Memphis, San Antonio and the Clippers should win their games quite easily. With a win against Milwaukee, New Orleans could tie OKC's record, and remember: the Pelicans won the season series agains OKC with 3-1 and thus hold the tiebreaker.

Grizzlies at Pistons, Spurs at Knicks, Magic at Rockets, Bucks at Pelicans, Hornets at Clippers

 

Very nice summaries! The Pelicans just won't go away.

 

didnt realize we are 5-6 in our division....that blows.
Trying to recall our record last year in the division...

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/814YDuzfK9U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Great news tonight in the magic number thread. Looks like we are only a game back in the loss column of memphis and portland. Spurs lost as well.

 

Yes, we are essentially tied with POR.

MEM, not so much. Looking at just the loss column isn't going to work with them. They have two less Home Losses than us, and one more Road win than us. And they have the tie-breaker. We are not that close to catching MEM, sorry to say.

 

I'm not concerned so much with the seeding as I am with our matchups. I'd love to play the Mavericks in the first round. And I'd really like to avoid the Blazers in the second (if we get to the second round).

 

I would love to go Dallas in the first and Memphis in the second.

I wouldn't mind playing the Clippers, I'd try to avoid the Spurs but it wouldn't be terrible, but I straight up fear the Blazers.

 

It's not important to win the first round.

~ Les Alexander

 

Why is everyone afraid of the Blazers? It was one of the closest series in nba history last year and we got better and they got worse if Dwight is healthy. If Dwight is not healthy it doesn't matter who we play we are not winning.

Rockets added -
Smith/Brewer/Improved Jones and Dmo

Blazers lost Matthews and Mo Williams.

 

this

mind=blown that Rockets fans are afraid of the Blazers. Would love to get them in the 1st round again, losing Matthews hurts them BIG time. If Dwight is healthy we get past the Blazers in 5. Dallas is probably the easiest opponent for the Rockets though.

 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Games&nbsp;&nbsp;H2H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Div&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Con&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Overall&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Magic
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Team&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W/L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L10&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;H2H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Left&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;TB&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Div&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;TB&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Conf&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;TB&nbsp;&nbsp;Tiebreak&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Number&nbsp;&nbsp;Diff
1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Warriors&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;53-13&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;8-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;0-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;31-8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;No*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;25&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Grizzlies&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;47-21&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5-5&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7-6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;29-13&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;No&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;17&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-2)
3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Blazers&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;44-21&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;8-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;24-14&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;No*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;17&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rockets&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;45-22&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5-6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;25-16&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
5&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mavericks&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;43-25&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5-5&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1A&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;23-17&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;13&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Clippers&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;43-25&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;28-14&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;No&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;13&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
7&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Spurs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;41-25&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7-3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1-1&nbsp;&nbsp;1H,1A&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4-6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;23-18&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;13&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-2)
8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thunder&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;37-30&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5-5&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1A&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;20-21&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
9&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pelicans&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;37-30&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7-3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;0-2&nbsp;&nbsp;1H,1A&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7-5&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;21-16&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;No&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
10&nbsp;&nbsp;Suns&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;35-33&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5-5&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3-0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;17-22&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
11&nbsp;&nbsp;Jazz&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;30-36&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9-1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;15-22&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)

*&nbsp;Indicates&nbsp;the&nbsp;Tie&nbsp;Break&nbsp;is&nbsp;final

Clinched&nbsp;the&nbsp;#11&nbsp;seed

Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/17.

Fourth quarter defense gets it done
After three quarters of poor defense by the Rockets that were only in the game thanks to a strong scoring performance by Donatas Motiejunas who jumped in for the struggling James Harden, everyone's intensity picked up notably in the final quarter. The Rockets forced turnovers, allowed only 16 points and scored well themselves, giving them a 107-94 victory in the end. D-Mo had 23 points on 8-12 shooting and added 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 0 turnovers. Oladipo went off once again and scored a game-high 29 points.

Whoops... and whoops again
Two other playoff teams were embarassed in the East: Memphis collapsed in the second half in Detroit while Reggie Jackson had his best game since getting traded to the Pistons with 23 points and 20(!) assists. Andre Drummond put up 16/16 with 5 blocks while Marc Gasol fouled out with two minutes to go in the game, he finished with 17/11/6. Memphis had led by 15 at the half, but ultimately lost 95-105.
San Antonio played untypically bad basketball against the Knicks. The team shot below 40% from the field and not only allowed a team that was led by Alexey Shved and Langston Galloway (also in double figures: Andrea Bargnani, Jason Smith and Louis Amundson. That's hilarious) to hang in there, but to win the game in overtime 104-100. Pop was irate.

Clippers escape
It looked like an easy win with a 22-point lead in the third quarter, but the Clippers allowed the Charlotte Hornets to get back into the game. It was close until the end, but DeAndre Jordan shot a solid 50% from the line while getting hacked and allowed his team to win 99-92. Not exactly a statement win.

Pelicans fly over Thunder
It was a strange game in New Orleans last night. The Pelicans started off with a 15-0 run, but scored only 10 points in the second quarter and thus allowed the Milwaukee Bucks to get back into the game. In the third, New Orleans built up a small lead, but once again let the opponent come back. With 2.5 seconds left and the game on the line, the Bucks called a timeout and busted out an excellent play that gave Ersan Ilyasova (who has the strange habit of being injured or terrible or both before the All-Star break to finish the season strong) a wide open three-pointer, but the ball went in-and-out, Pelicans win 85-84 and retake the 8th seed.

Wednesday games
Some games could definitely be lost by the Western Conference playoff teams tonight (I look at you, Trail Blazers and Clippers). But of course, everything is overshadowed by the clash of the two best teams in the NBA this season: The Atlanta Hawks travel to the bay area to go up against the Golden State Warriors. Exactly as in the first matchup between these teams, the winner will have the best record in the NBA after the game. Unfortunately, Kyle Korver is out with a broken nose.

Trail Blazers at Heat, Spurs at Bucks, Celtics at Thunder, Magic at Mavericks, Clippers at Kings, Hawks at Warriors, Wizards at Jazz

 

Sorry, the Mavericks and the Clippers as well as the Thunder and the Pelicans should be swapped in the standings. The rest is correct.

 

Thanks Try!

 

A great night for the Rockets(Pelicans and Clippers notwithstanding). Hopefully we're back in 3rd or even 2nd by the end of this weekend cuz after that it's 7 out of 9 on the road which will be brutal(although Dwight should be back for most of them).

 

Only Team I worry about is the Spurs
and that is purely based on Their Experience and COACHING

Rocket River