We could still take Dallas' spot, too. But they have to lose two. We hold tie-breakers on both, currently.
I wonder if San Antonio plays Leonard and Khawi against Dallas on Wednesday...I think they rest them against the Thunder tomorrow.
If mavs beat jazz = mavs clinch a playoff spot And hope Jazz lose against the Lakers in LA If jazz beat mavs = jazz clinch a playoff spot And hope Mavs lose against the Spurs in Dallas More importantly Rockets have to win both games.
I also think the Spurs will prefer to play the Mavs over us, so yeah, i'll be shocked if Pop plays the starters in Dallas.
There is a thing called the lottery though. Sacramento just beat OKC so I think they have "tanked enough", so to speak, and players like Rondo and Cousins are just playing loose and for pride.
Don't forget, since it is Dallas, and they are in a three-way fight for the 7th spot, Pops could play to win based on who he wants to face in the playoffs. He might be able to control the 1st round matchup. So, this isn't a normal instance where we just use the blanket theory that Pops always rests. If the game still matters to us, that makes it a three-way fight for 7th on the last day, with Rockets holding the tie-break for 7th seed. Also, even if he doesn't care who he faces out of the three teams, he might just simply do the honorable thing for two other coaches and play to win a game involving a three-way fight for the playoffs. If they were just fighting for seeds, no. But fighting for playoffs, it's rather uncool for SAS, SAC and LAL to rest players...and coaches remember that the next years.
What if Pops wants to play Utah. He'd need to beat Dallas to ensure that. If the fate of Dallas is meaningful to us, then it means Jazz beat Dallas, so Spurs could play any of three teams in the playoffs. Unless you believe Dallas to be Pops preferred 7th seed over both the Jazz and Rockets, he plays to beat them.
Like I said, it's an away game. Easier to swallow your pride on the road (when a 7th to 11th pick is the prize) than in front of the home crowd -- thus why they beat OKC in their last home game at the old arena. And like Rondo hasn't given up before ... ummm, last year's playoffs.
as far I know Rondo and Cousins only have been playing in Home games so they wont' play again this season.
You are incorrect. If mavs beat the jazz, we don't need the jazz to lose anything else, we just need to win out as we hold the tie breaker. The only way we are eliminated tomorrow is if jazz win and we lose. otherwise it will come down to last game regardless if we lose.
If the Rockets were to make the playoffs, they can be only the 8th seed. 7th seed is not possible. A three way tie at 41-41, means Jazz are 7th, Rockets 8th and Mavs are out of the playoffs.
The magic number for the Jazz to clinch a playoff spot is 2. Any combination of Jazz wins or Rockets losses that adds up to 2 means they are in. So, we can actually lose one more, if the Jazz lose out. We can also win out, if Jazz only win one. Mav's magic number is 1 to clinch.
