After last night's game, I am just too hyped about our season not to post this. Below are my thoughts on the Rockets' ideal road to the championship (correct me if I am wrong, this setup also produces the best storylines). 1. Rockets 2. Warriors 3. OKC 4. Denver 5. Portland 6. Lakers 7. Jazz 8. Spurs I think the top 3 teams to avoid in the west are the Warriors(best team), OKC(best defense) and the Lakers (Lebron) (yes, in that order). If we can play just 1 out of the 3 on our way to the final (i.e., playing on the opposite side of the bracket), then that is a big win. Round 1: Mike gets his revenge against Pop. Jazz will be a tough out for the Warriors. Two LA kids playing against the Lakers. Nurk against the Joker, Dame/CJ against Murray and Harris. Round 2 (assuming no upsets): Rockets will get a favorable matchup against either Denver or Portland. We finally get Rus v. KD in the playoff. Round 3: Redemption - Rockets v. Warriors. Final: if Giannis wins the MVP, which is not as likely if the Rockets are the 1st seed in the West but still might happen, then I would want a final against the Bucks. If Giannis somehow falls behind in the MVP race, then I prefer a final against the Celtic Bottom line, doesn't matter what seed we ended up at, if we can tank to be on the opposite side of Dub/OKC/Lakers, I would totally do it. Also, one observation last night, PJ can't be our answer to guarding KD, he is not long enough to bother KD on those fadeaways/turnarounds, we need a tall wing defender (Kent!).
Season is at the halfway mark essentially. With things being as close as they are, it is too soon to speculate, but I like the principle.
Let's calm down, but yeah, I just don't want to see the Pelicans, Clippers, or OKC in the Playoffs (of course not including Warriors). Just bad matchups.
Its dumb that people actually thinks Giannis should win the MVP just because his team is #1 in the EAST. The East has 8 teams that are blatantly tanking so the top teams in the East all get to play those tanking teams 4X per season meanwhile in the West, only 1 team is blatantly tanking whereas everyone else is fighting for a playoff seed. Stat-wise, Giannis isn't even ahead of Paul George or Steph Curry in the MVP race. Harden should be the clear-cut MVP if Rockets can secure a top 3 seed in the West.
