Which Potential #6 Seed Gives Us the Most Trouble, and Why?

We'll be rainin 3's and makin people cry. Tbh, I'll take anyone. Harden will be Hardening in the playoffs this year. No more softening. The Beard will be extra hairy come April. Be ready.

Spoiler

 

Not sure why people is underselling OKC here, we played them three times and we always struggled to get a win, we won two games out of three but we did it by a couple of points with Harden having serious problems against Roberson, meanwhile we've been able to win with less problems against Memphis (playing 5 vs 8 a couple of times) and L.A with James playing/shooting much better. It's a small sample maybe, but still...and again, not that there's a big difference between the three imo, at least at this point.

 

I'll take okc. They don't have enough shooting and they could be contained fairly easily I think. Either double wb a lot and force someone else to beat you or hard everyone but him and let him Chuck them into a loss.

Their Big's aren't as scary. Adams and Taj are good defenders but they arent the long and explosive top we struggle against. Marc isn't explosive like he used to be but he's still the best defender at of the bunch and DeAndre has the explosion to block at the rim after being beat which is why long athletic centers we struggle against like Gobert.

I want the okc match-up. I want to added story line of MVP battle. I want Harden do dominate that series. Even tho Roberson is a Tony Allen type defender the PnR would work great. Kanter is a sieve. Okc is on a little run and all of a sudden everyone is scared of them. They just ended a losing streak to mediocre teams.

 

I pretty much agree with everything in this post. I think the Rockets win against Memphis, but the physical style of play would take a lot out of the team moving forward. The Clippers just don't seem all there health-wise, and I haven't figured out the Thunder's roster yet either. Westbrook may be enough to pull out a first round upset.

 

not sure why u wouldn't be a fan of facing Memphis

in the 1st game, they beat us by 6 by going 13-25 from 3...it's uncharacteristic for them to hit that many threes

in the 2nd game, they beat us by 5 with Tony Allen scoring 22 points on 8-10 shooting (another uncharacteristic performance) while we went 10-41 from 3...we were also up by 15 with a little over 8 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter in this game

in the 3rd game, we destroyed them 119-95 in Memphis with no Ryan Anderson

in the 4th game, we waxed them again 123-108

Memphis can not stop our offense (which is by far the best in the NBA since acquiring Lou Will). They can not keep up with us from behind the arc. We outrebounded them in 2 of those games. The only game in which they killed us on the boards was the 2nd one, and they still needed 22 points from Allen and a choke job by the Rockets to barely pull out the win. They are old and slow. Guys like Andrew Harrison, James Ennis, and Troy Daniels have to play decent minutes for them.

 

Memphis usually plays us close? What? We should've blown them out 3 times this season. The team that plays us close is OKC...every single game so far has gown down to the last possession.

 

We have not been good vs. the Grizzlies in the Marc Gasol era. They scare me more.

We're only 2-2 vs. the Griz this season... give 'em some credit... We've blown huge leads against the Spurs too... doesn't mean I'm not wary of them.

 

Please slide to 6th seed LA. Should avoid OKC.

 

You should be focusing on how this particular Rockets team has done against this particular Memphis team this year, and this Rockets team has waxed them twice and should've blown them out in another game but choked. What is so scary about this Memphis team? Look at the guys who get rotation minutes on their squad this year (guys like Troy Daniels, James Ennis, and Andrew Harrison). Look at their bench. They can not guard us...we've scored 109, 105, 119, and 123 on them. We have the most efficient offense off all time since acquiring Lou Williams. The Rockets should beat them in 5.

 

They barely beat us twice due to some uncharacteristic performances (both losses came without Clint Capela and pre-Lou Will), and we absolutely destroyed them twice.

Of course u should be wary of the Spurs, they're an elite team and have Pop and Kawhi to go along with multiple vets with a ton of playoff/championship experience. There's no Pop or Kawhi on the Grizzlies, and the Grizzlies are nothing more than a decent team.

 

I think the grind it out Grizzlies are built for the playoffs ball where game slows down and rebounding becomes crucial.

 

OKC - They are playing really well lately. RW is dialing it back just a bit finding the right groove in playing "his game" and getting others involved. Taj is in the starting lineup now. Taj/Adams/Kanter, those guys can rebound and score inside. I worry about OKC in the playoffs because in the playoffs you need that "extra gear" and RW can really ratchet it up. Roberson is one of the best defenders on Harden and that is worrisome.

LAC - They have a high ceiling as a team, but right now are playing poorly. Very odd. Can they "turn it on" when the playoffs start? I don't know. DAJ is an issue because of how he can disrupt the JH/Capela PNR in the lane.

MEM- They are big and can rebound. But I like this matchup the best because in theory the Rockets should be able to "out shoot / score" more than the Grizz.

@Vivi I am with you, OKC should not be undersold.

 

Best case scenario is we play the Thunder and PatBev just destroys Westbrook defensively and then Harden has multiple triple-doubles and the Rockets sweep them 4-0

 

I don't want to face Westbrook for 7-games especially if Harden wins the MVP and Westbrook is PO'd.

That being said, I'd rather play OKC than LAC.

Best would be Memphis. I think we have too much firepower for them.

 

1. MEM
2. LAC
3. OKC

 

MVP is not announced until the 2nd round..

Agree. I want MEM, OKC then LAC in that order.

Bring on the worst shooting team in the league, who we have destroyed in the last two match-ups. We got anything we wanted, both at the rim and at the arc.

 

Clippers are the best team by a good margin. OKC is a tough matchup with Roberson, Gibson and Adams, but I'd probably prefer them over Memphis now that Parsons isn't sabotaging them.

 

I feel 100% confident against OKC, LA, or Memphis. I'm glad Utah has pulled ahead, I don't want to face them

 

Another lowkey, inconsequential point: Those 9:45 starts against the Clippers are terrible. Give me OKC or Memphis.....Central Time Zone baby!

 

Why are people scared of the Clippers? The Rockets have blown them out twice (yes I know they were injured the first time)

The two primary ways that the Rockets lose games are when they get out rebounded and give up too many points to opposing big men...or when they get locked down on the perimeter.

DeAndre Jordan is a good player, but his only offensive game is put backs and alley-oops, plus the Clippers have no big men on their bench that would cause any trouble.

Also the Clippers only good perimeter defender is Chris Paul, but he is too small to guard Harden, Gordon, or Ariza.

The X-factor in a potential HOU-LAC playoff series would be Blake Griffin, but he would literally have to have 4+ games of 30-40 points and 10+ rebounds for them to have a good chance of beating us 4 times.

Teams like OKC and MEM can do whatever they want inside the paint, especially OKC. They now have Gibson to go with Kanter and Adams, with Westbrook constantly driving to the rim as well. Their perimeter defending is also pretty good with Andre Roberson

I would rank the teams as follows

• UTA: 1st in perimeter Def, 2nd in interior Off/rebounding
• OKC: 3rd in perimeter Def, 1st in interior Off/rebounding
• MEM: 2nd in perimeter Def, 3rd in interior Off/rebounding
• LAC: 4th in perimeter Def, 4th in interior Off/rebounding