2013-2014 Magic Numbers against the Western Conference

I think GSW moves up to 5th, Memphis takes 6th and Portland ends up in the 7th spot.

That three game stretch for Portland (@ATL, @CHI, MEM) and Memphis (@GSW, @POR, @DEN) should be fun to watch.

I still think there is an outside chance Memphis makes it to 5th which is NOT GOOD. But if they get 6th against the Clippers, that would be awesome (and really bad for the Clips).

 

                                   Games  H2H        Div          Con   Overall    Magic
    Team          W/L   L10   H2H   Left   TB   Div   TB    Conf   TB  Tiebreak   Number  Diff
 1  Spurs       54-16  10-0   3-0     1H    W   9-3    L   31-10    L      Yes*       18   (-1)
 2  Thunder     52-18   7-3   0-3     1H    L              30-12    L       No*       17   (-1)
 3  Clippers    50-21   9-1   0-3     1H    L              29-12    L       No*       14   (-1)
 4  Rockets     48-22   7-3                     9-4        26-17
 5  Blazers     45-26   3-7   3-1   None    W              24-20    W      Yes*        8   (-2)
 6  Warriors    44-27   7-3   2-1   None    W              24-18    W      Yes*        7   (-1)
 7  Grizzlies   42-28   8-2   2-2   None    T  3-11    W   23-19    W      Yes*        6   (-1)
 8  Suns        42-29   6-4   2-1   None    W              24-19    W      Yes*        5   (-1)
 9  Mavericks   42-29   6-4   2-2   None    T   9-5    W   22-19    W       Yes        6   (-1)
10  Wolves      34-35   4-6   2-0     1A    W              19-25    W      Yes*          D-Mo'd
11  Nuggets     32-39   5-5   1-0  1H,1A    W              16-25    W       Yes          Dusted
12  Pelicans    30-40   7-3   2-0  1H,1A    W  3-10    W   11-29    W      Yes*         Plucked

* Indicates the Tie Break is final


Clinched the #9 seed
12 games remaining

Here is the latest batch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/24.

Rockets win despite stagnant offense
The game against the Bobcats was not pretty, but the Rockets were able to win quite comfortably, 100-89, thanks to good defense and a nice run at the end of the third quarter. Once again, the team was led by James Harden who had 31 points. For the soon-to-be Hornets, Kemba Walker (22 points) and Al Jefferson (20/11) were the top scorers.

Top teams have no problems
This time, Pop rested Parker, Green and Splitter, with Duncan and Ginobili returning to the lineup. No surprise there, the Spurs defeated the 76ers 113-91. When Austin Daye scores 22 points against your team, your team sucks. Sam Hinkie really did his work thoroughly.
The Thunder outscored Denver 41-27 in the first quarter and cruised to the end the rest of the game, allowing Durant to play only 31 minutes in their 117-96 win. Still, he had a game high 27 points along with 8 assists. Ty Lawson bounced back from a weak performance against the Wizards with 25 points and 7 assists.
The Clippers beat the Bucks, although it was closer than expected. The main reason for that was Ramon Sessions who exploded for 28 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. But led by yet another strong game by Blake Griffin (27/14/6 with 3 blocks), the team from Los Angeles won 106-98.

Portland continues to struggle
After getting a lead in the first quarter in which LeBron shot 4/12 from the field, the Blazers fell behind and were unable to overcome a 10-point deficite, mainly because the three-pointer wasn't falling (11/39 overall). With five minutes left, the Heat were up by twelve when Portland started to get hot, they made four of their last five threes to tie the game at 91 each with 30 seconds to go. They went to a 2-3 zone to stop LeBron on the Heat's last possession, but the reigning MVP didn't care and bullied his way to the rim for a layup with 11 seconds left in regulation. Portland decided not to use a timeout, but Bosh blocked Lillard on the final drive, so the Blazers lost 91-93 and have now dropped seven of their last 10 games.

The battle for the last playoff spots
Dallas didn't play today, and the Mavs had to see how the Phoenix Suns won in Atlanta 102-95 thanks to a strong third quarter and Gerald Green who got hot in the fourth when Atlanta came dangerously close. Dragic (sigh) and Bledsoe had good performances again, they combined for 39 points and 10 assists. Markieff Morris gave them a boost from the bench again, he had 17 points.
Memphis outbullied Minnesota in the first quarter and didn't allow the Wolves to get close again in their 109-92 win. Mike Conley stood out with 23 points on 9/12 shooting, Kevin Love was quiet today.

Cellar Dwellers
The Pelicans continued their little run and got their third straight win in a 109-104 game in overtime game against the Brooklyn Nets. Former Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans had 33 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, Anthony Davis had 24/12 and 3 blocks. Brooklyn was 10/40 from downtown...

Tuedsay Games
Portland has a chance to get back on track with a win in Orlando. The Mavericks could drop further behind the playoff spots, they have to face Oklahoma City tonight.
Trail Blazers at Magic, Thunder at Mavericks

 

LOL. Scribo you are amazing.

 

Thanks, try. The only question now seems to be whether we are the 3rd or the 4th seed in the playoffs. 3rd seed is still a possibility, since the Clippers have a tougher remaining schedule than we do.

The Rockets and the Clippers face each other once, and both teams have one game remaining against an elite team (Rox vs Spurs, Clips vs Thunder). Aside from that, the Clips have several games against Western Conference teams fighting for playoff position, while we have no such games remaining.

If we can pull off a home win against the Clippers on Saturday, the dream is still alive.

 

Oh sure. Pick a night where there's only 4 games to come back.:grin:

 

:grin:

Thanks again for doing this! and kudos to Try as well!

 

You seem to have forgotten the Rox vs Thunder game and that Clippers already won the H2H tiebreaker. Though getting to #3 seed is still mathematically possible, but because the odds is less than 1% and 95% for staying at #4, I won't even give it any thoughts now.

The chance for Thunder to catch up on the Spurs is quite a bit bigger at 25% than Rox getting to #3, so I am still closely watching them.

Though Pop has been systematically resting his core players, I haven't detected any signs of slippage. I am still holding onto the prediction that Spurs will end the season at #1.

And that is all I care--as long as Rox are not going to meet OKC, LAC and MEM in the first two rounds.

 

I remembered the tiebreaker, but yeah, somehow I totally missed that Thunder game.

If its any consolation, our only remaining difficult games (Clips, Spurs, Thunder) are all at home.

 

Statement games. I'd like to see Rox win at least two out of the three.

 

The funny thing is, even with the benefit of a weak ass Eastern conference, Miami has a worse record than the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, and are only 1 or 2 games better than Rockets.
Which means that whoever comes out of the West, will likely have home court advantage in the Finals.

 

seems like Morey could be implying once the 4th seed is secure, we will rest our starters

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Yes I hope so, will mean we have clinched home court MT <a href="https://twitter.com/lovshack1">@lovshack1</a> R any of the starters going 2B rested down the stretch for the playoffs?</p>&mdash; Daryl Morey (@dmorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey/statuses/448533615341629441">March 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

The Blazers are in free fall mode. They are 17 down 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter against the pathetic Magic. Don't be surprised if they drop out of the 8th spot by the end of the season.

 

Wonder why it's such a purpose to stay away from MEM, everyone wants GS. GS just as big as MEM, good defense, deeper bench, better shooters than MEM.

I'm sleep tho...

 

Very, VERY happy at this comment. I personally care much more for our stars to be rested and injury-free(or as much as possible at this point in the season), then worrying about specific matchups. Guarantee the 4th seed, which almost certain at this point, and ensure everyone's good to go in the playoffs.

 

this, the 3rd seed is no more desirable than the 4th, and the 2nd seed is probably out of reach

get the 4th, then get healthy (especially Parsons)

 

Welcome back, Scribo, and thanks for the update. An interesting wrinkle that you have missed: Denver is already eliminated from the playoffs. The best they can finish is with 43W. They do own the tiebreak against Dallas, so if Dallas losses out all games they end up equal with 43 Wins.

However, for Dal to lose all its games, it has to also lose to Phoenix, which will end up in a three-way tie for the last spot, which Phoenix wins on tiebreak.

Minor quibble, but I dig things like that... :0

 

And with the OKC loss in OT to Dallas tonight, my pipe dream of the 2nd seed remains alive.:grin: Looking at the Thunder's remaining schedule, it could still happen, but obviously it requires the Rockets to either win out or maybe lose one more game the rest of the way.