Magic Number Thread

The magic # is 1

Go Rockets!

 

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=251595

For references

 

Here you go! If Scribo doesn't have time for the thread, I'll jump in again.
All the numbers are explained here.

                                   Games  H2H        Div          Con   Overall    Magic
    Team          W/L   L10   H2H   Left   TB   Div   TB    Conf   TB  Tiebreak   Number  Diff
1   Warriors    50-12   7-3   0-4   None    L               30-7    L       No*       28   
2   Grizzlies   45-18   6-4   2-2   None    T   7-6    L   28-13    L        No       22   
3   Rockets     43-20   7-3                     5-6        24-14                           
4   Blazers     41-20   7-3   1-1     1A    T              23-14    W       Yes       20   
5   Clippers    41-23   6-4   1-2     1A    L              27-12    L        No       17   
6   Spurs       40-23   6-4   1-1  1H,1A    T   4-6    W   22-18    W       Yes       17   
7   Mavericks   41-25   5-5   2-1     1A    W   6-6    L   21-17    W       Yes       15   (-1)
8   Thunder     35-28   7-3   2-0     1A    W              19-19    W      Yes*       11   
9   Pelicans    36-29   8-2   0-2  1H,1A    L   7-5    L   21-15    W        No       11   
10  Suns        33-32   4-6   3-0     1H    W              16-22    W      Yes*        7   
11  Jazz        27-36   8-2   2-0  1H,1A    W              14-22    W       Yes        4   
12  Nuggets     23-41   3-7   3-0     1H    W              14-24    W      Yes*     Done    
13  Kings       21-41   3-7   2-0     1H    W              14-25    W      Yes*     Done    
14  Lakers      17-46   4-6   2-1   None    W               7-32    W      Yes*     Done    
15  Wolves      14-48   3-7   3-0     1H    W               6-32    W      Yes*     Done    

* Indicates the Tie Break is final

Clinched the #11 seed

Here are the current Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/10.

 

I use google to search clutch fans

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=UTF-8#q=magic+number+site:bbs.clutchfans.net

 

Was thinking about this yesterday, thanks.

 

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NBA/Western/Southwest/Houston.html

This is a pretty good website to keep an eye on the playoff picture.

 

Thanks a lot! It's about that time of year we start to look at magic numbers. So if we beat Portland tonight, does the magic number go down by 2?

 

Man, at this rate i would not be surprised to see NO nabbing 8 seed with Dallas dropping out.

Most teams would rather face Mavs than Pellies if playoffs started today.

 

It would actually go down by 3, as a win would also clinch the tie break against the Trail Blazers!

 

Yeah, we only face them 3 times this season. So whoever wins tonight will clinch the tie break.

 

Sadly, no, it wouldn't. By virtue of being a (likely) division winner, Portland would have a tie-breaker in seeding over a (presumably non-division-winning) Rockets team, regardless of whether Houston wins the season series. The Rockets would also have to win their division in order to get the seeding tie-breaker over Portland.

 

Memphis just lost to Boston

 

Thanks to point this out. I check NBA.com and it is the number 1 tie breaker.

Tie breakers:

Code:

(1) Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division
(2) Head-to-head won-lost percentage
(3) Conference won-lost percentage
(4) W-L Percentage vs. Playoff teams, own conference
(5) W-L Percentage vs. Playoff teams, other conference
(6) Net Points, all games

But I don't remember seeing this division tie-breaker before. Is it new?

 

Thank you for the correction, BimaThug. Everyone is talking about restructuring the playoffs, but I hope the NBA also gets rid of these strange special rules for division winners.
Well, with the loss tonight, it doesn't matter anyway.

--------------------------------

                                   Games  H2H        Div          Con   Overall    Magic
    Team          W/L   L10   H2H   Left   TB   Div   TB    Conf   TB  Tiebreak   Number  Diff
1   Warriors    51-12   8-2   0-4   None    L               30-7    L       No*       28   
2   Grizzlies   45-19   5-5   2-2   None    T   7-6    L   28-13    L        No       21   (-1)
3   Blazers     42-20   7-3   1-2   None    L              24-14    L       No*       20   
4   Rockets     43-21   7-3                     5-6        24-15                           
5   Clippers    42-23   6-4   1-2     1A    L              28-12    L        No       17   
6   Spurs       40-23   6-4   1-1  1H,1A    T   4-6    W   22-18    W       Yes       17   
7   Mavericks   41-25   5-5   2-1     1A    W   6-6    L   21-17    W       Yes       15   
8   Pelicans    36-29   8-2   0-2  1H,1A    L   7-5    L   21-15    W        No       11   
9   Thunder     35-29   6-4   2-0     1A    W              19-20    W      Yes*       10   (-1)
10  Suns        34-32   5-5   3-0     1H    W              17-22    W      Yes*        7   
11  Jazz        27-36   8-2   2-0  1H,1A    W              14-22    W       Yes        4   
12  Nuggets     24-41   4-6   3-0     1H    W              14-24    W      Yes*   Dusted

* Indicates the Tie Break is final

Clinched the #11 seed

Here is the latest batch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/11.

Big game, big loss
Going up against the Trail Blazers on their home court, the Rockets were outrebounded badly, struggled at the free throw line and didn't get James Harden's A-game. Thanks to Portland turnovers and Corey Brewer turning into an absolute monster in the final minutes of the game (and a shocking no-call on that Brewer steal on Lillard), it was close until the very end, but the Rockets came short 100-105. LaMarcus Aldridge went off once again with 26/14, Corey Brewer scored 17 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter.
Huge loss, as a win would have put the Rockets really close to taking the second seed from the Grizzlies that are in a slump right now.

Warriors fight and succeed
The leading team in the west had to overcome a bad shooting night by Stephen Curry and a ridiculous rebounding performance by Andre Drummond (10 DREB, 17(!!!) OREB) on their way to a 105-98 win at home. The leading scorer of the game was Klay Thompson with very efficient 27 points, Drummond added 22 points to his 27 rebounds for Detroit.

Surprising loss for struggling Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies lost yet another game the shouldn't have. Their shooting was fine, but 21 turnovers really hurt them against a young Celtics team. In the 92-95 loss, Mike Conley led the west team with 20 points, while Marc Gasol took only 9 shots for 9 points. Jae Crowder, who was just a throw-in in the Rondo trade, scored 16 points off the bench and might be better than Rondo (just kidding, but still). The Celtics are still in the playoff hunt in the east with a strong 27-36 record. Yeah.

Battle of threes and free throws
In another highly anticipated game, the Clippers and the Thunder faced off in Oklahoma City. Both teams were on fire from three (Clippers: 15-30, Thunder: 12-25) and shot a ton of free throws (Clippers: 35-47, Thunder: 30-36). Russell Westbrook struggled badly against Chris Paul's defense and turned the ball over 10 times going along with his 24 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Paul had a great game with 33 points (5-8 from three) and 9 assists. In the end, OKC just couldn't stop the Clippers on defense, lost 108-120 and dropped behind the Pelicans, out of the playoff spots!

In a game between two lottery teams, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-97.

Thursday games
The Houston Rockets will try to bounce back with a win against the Jazz in Utah. Memphis matches up against the also struggling Wizards while the Spurs want to extend their winning streak to 7 in a marquee matchup against the Cavaliers.

Rockets at Jazz, Grizzlies at Wizards, Cavaliers at Spurs

 

Tough loss. I'm not surprised the Rockets didn't win, but it doesn't change the fact that they now have to finish ahead of Portland and (probably)Memphis if they want the 2nd seed. Even the 4th seed is looking tougher now thanks to OKC not showing up against the very short-handed Clippers last night.

Tonight is almost a must-win. The Clippers game on Sunday is a likely loss, so a 3-game losing streak must be avoided with the Spurs and Clippers so close in the standings and both Portland and Memphis now ahead of us.

 

                                   Games  H2H        Div          Con   Overall    Magic
    Team          W/L   L10   H2H   Left   TB   Div   TB    Conf   TB  Tiebreak   Number  Diff
1   Warriors    51-12   8-2   0-4   None    L               30-7    L       No*       28  
2   Grizzlies   45-20   4-6   2-2   None    T   7-6    L   28-13    L        No       20   (-1)
3   Blazers     42-20   7-3   1-2   None    L              24-14    L       No*       20   
4   Rockets     43-22   6-4                     5-6        24-16                           
5   Clippers    42-23   6-4   1-2     1A    L              28-12    L        No       17   
6   Spurs       40-24   6-4   1-1  1H,1A    T   4-6    W   22-18    W       Yes       16   (-1)
7   Mavericks   41-25   5-5   2-1     1A    W   6-6    L   21-17    W       Yes       15   
8   Pelicans    36-29   8-2   0-2  1H,1A    L   7-5    L   21-15    W        No       11   
9   Thunder     35-29   6-4   2-0     1A    W              19-20    W      Yes*       10   
10  Suns        34-32   5-5   3-0     1H    W              17-22    W      Yes*        7   
11  Jazz        28-36   8-2   2-1     1H    W              15-22    W       Yes        4   
12  Nuggets     24-41   4-6   3-0     1H    W              14-24    W      Yes*   Dusted    

* Indicates the Tie Break is final

Clinched the #11 seed

Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/12.

Beat on the glass—again
On the second night of their road back-to-back, the Houston Rockets had to go up against the young and upcoming Utah Jazz that are in a groove since the All-Star break. The "Stifle Tower", Rudy Gobert from France, just grabbed board after board against the outmatched Rockets front court and finished with 22 boards along with 19 points and 4 blocks. Houston was outrebounded by 20 for the second straight time, Harden struggled again, going just 3 of 13 from the field, resulting in a disappointing 91-109 loss.
The Rockets could be in serious trouble with the Clippers just one game behind (that's the next opponent!) and the Spurs starting to find their playoff form. The sixth seed isn't far away...

Memphis is not San Antonio
The Grizzlies rested three of their best players in Gasol, Randolph and Allen while starting PG Conley was out with an ankle injury. As expected for every team in the NBA except for the Spurs, the reserves didn't have a chance against the Wizards despite leading after the first quarter. In the end, John Wall led his squad to a 107-87 win with 21/7/6.

Epic battle of the conferences
The San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers: two teams that had some problems during the season but that get better and better as the season progresses. And man, what a game this was! If you have League Pass, go watch it! Both teams were rolling on offense in the first half, one beautiful play after the other on a rapid pace made the game a joy to watch. At one point, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James started to go at each other in mulitple possessions for another bit of excitement. Kyrie Irving was just slicing and dicing through the Spurs defense, he had 22 points at halftime.
In the third, both teams started missing some shots, but San Antonio stayed ahead most of the time. Then, Kyrie Irving got hot. In the final minutes, he was absolutely unstoppable, scoring on ridiculously tough shots at will. But with beautifully executed plays, the Spurs managed to retain the lead and looked like the sure winner when Kawhi Leonard stepped to the line with a three point lead and only four seconds to play. However, he missed both, Irving made another three pointer, the game went into overtime. Both teams played well during the additional 5 minutes, but Kyrie Irving just couldn't be stopped. He added 11 points to boost his total to 57, leading the Cavaliers to a 128-125 victory in San Antonio. LeBron James had a nice statline of 31/5/7. For the Spurs, Tony Parker is definitely back, he had a very efficient 31 points; Kawhi Leonard had a fine game with 24/9/7 while Tim Duncan definitely does not look like a 38-year-old with a near triple-double of 18/11/8 and 4 blocks.

Friday games
Some nice matchups for the playoff contenders today, though no big blockbuster game.

Timberwolves at Thunder, Clippers at Mavericks, Warriors at Nuggets, Hawks at Suns, Pistons at Trail Blazers

 

Let's hope the Mavs get their crap together and beat the Clippers tonight. That'll give the Rockets some breathing room even if they lose again at LA on Sunday.

The way I see it, the Rockets probably have to finish with around 54 wins to lock up the 4th seed(similar to last year). With 8 games left at home and the only truly tough ones being New Orleans and San Antonio and some winnable road games at Indiana(although they're red hot right now), Washington, Toronto, Dallas, and Charlotte, that's definitely doable.

But the 2nd and 3rd seed are gonna be tough unless Memphis continues to struggle and Portland collapses over the next 2 weeks during their brutal stretch on the road(which is certainly possible). The Rockets would probably need 55-56 wins to have even a chance at those seeds now that the tiebreakers are lost.

 

                                   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*       27   (-1)
2   Grizzlies   46-20   5-5   2-2   None    T   7-6    L   28-13    L        No       20   
3   Blazers     43-20   7-3   1-2   None    L              24-14    L       No*       20   
4   Rockets     43-22   6-4                     5-6        24-16                           
5   Clippers    42-24   5-5   1-2     1A    L              28-13    L        No       16   (-1)
6   Mavericks   42-25   5-5   2-1     1A    W   6-6    L   22-17    W       Yes       15   
7   Spurs       40-24   6-4   1-1  1H,1A    T   4-6    W   22-18    W       Yes       16   
8   Pelicans    36-29   8-2   0-2  1H,1A    L   7-5    L   21-15    W        No       11   
9   Thunder     36-29   6-4   2-0     1A    W              20-20    W      Yes*       10   
10  Suns        34-33   5-5   3-0     1H    W              17-22    W      Yes*        6   (-1)
11  Jazz        29-36   8-2   2-1     1H    W              15-22    W       Yes        4   

* Indicates the Tie Break is final

Clinched the #11 seed

Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/15.

Let's look at the games from two nights ago first:

• The Thunder beat the Timberwolves easily behind a strong 23/15 performance by Enes Kanter and yet another triple-double by Russell Westbrook. The end result: 113-99.
• The Warriors rested their stars and lost to the Nuggets 103-114.
• Portland had no problem with the Pistons, winning 118-99 while reserve PG Steve Blake put up a Prigioni-esque statline with 7 assists in 15 minutes without a single entry in any other statistic category.
• The Suns lost to the Atlanta hawks 87-96 at home.
• The Clippers were destroyed by a Dallas team that shot over 60% from the field (and 57% from three), losing 99-129.

Now last night's games:

Top teams win easily
The Memphis Grizzlies were able to contain the Milwaukee Bucks led by the Greek Freak with 19 points. For the Bucks, Tyler Ennis did his best to replace the injured MCW and did so by going 3-14 from the field. Every Grizzlies starter scored in double figures, the end result was 96-83
Golden State blew out the Knicks at home while Curry and Thompson both went 6-10 from downtown, combining for a total 52 points. Final result: 125-94.

Jazz stay hot
Utah defeated the Detroit Pistons 88-85, Rudy Gobert had 19 rebounds in the game. Andre Drummond had to leave the game early with a concussion. The Jazz are now 10-2 since the All-Star break.

Sunday games
Big game for the Rockets on the road against the Clippers! Don't forget the early tip-off today. The other games aren't that great, but could be especially important in the fight for the last playoff spot.

Bulls at Thunder, Rockets at Clippers, Nuggets at Pelicans, Timberwolves at Spurs, Trail Blazers at Raptors, Knicks at Suns