Situation: We must pass San Antonio or New Orleans to get the number 3 seed. Assumption: San Antonio and New Orleans will play the second half as well as the first half, leaving them at 56-26. To match that record, we'll need to finish 30-10. Is it possible? Not sure, but here’s how it might have to happen: Rest of Jan (5-1) There’s no time for us now – it’s time to start kicking butt. The team is playing well, we’re eking out wins, and the schedule is relatively weak. I predict our only loss will be to Detroit. We’ll need to beat Utah and Philly on the road. February (9-2) The first 6 games are against the underbelly teams of the NBA. We need to sweep this. The remaining five include Portland, Cleveland, Dallas, and Chicago & Charlotte. We need to take 3 of those 5…or 4 of them if we slip up against one of the weaker teams earlier on in this month. March (10-5) By march 28th, we’ll have played 16 games in 29 nights. That’s pretty brutal when you consider that we’ll face 10 playoff teams (although not as brutal as the recent stretch we had). I am hoping to split those games and sweep the rest – which a very good team should be able to pull off. Of course, this is usually a tough time to rack up wins as injuries mount and the intensity of games increase. The key will be our record after we play the Lakers on Mar 11th. If we only have two losses at that point, we’ll be in good shape to reach 10-5. April (6-2) It doesn’t slow down here, with 8 games in the first half of April, and 6 of them being stiff competition and the other two games (sac-town and GS) both being on the road. If we can take those road games, as well as beat Portland, Phoenix (road), New Orleans, and Dallas (road), we can afford to lose to Orlando and the Lakers – although we know we really hope to win at least one of those games.
Love the Research but we are a game out of the 3rd seed and 2 out of the second seed so dont try to make this sound more difficult than it is.
Anything is possible. If you haven't yet, take a look at the Spurs schedule the rest of the way. It is BRUTAL. I don't see them winning the division. New Orleans will challenge, but I like our chances to win the division and get the 2 or 3 seed. .
I really like the month of February. I'm confident we can take down the Mavericks and Blazers. The only real competition will be the Cavaliers. If we can win that game, there's a decent chance we can sweep February again. Then comes March. I've been dreading this month since I saw it on the schedule. Lots of playoff caliber teams (Jazz twice, Spurs twice, Hornets, Lakers). Plus there's a brutal stretch there the second week where we play 5 games in one week. I would be more than happy going 10-5.
the front half of the schedule was loaded with Road games, B2B's, long road trips and our injured superstars. i think the second half could be a different story.
I am pretty amazed with the poll results. Can't believe over 50% think we will go at least 30-10 - that's .750 ball. And taht over 90% think it's at least possible! Looks like there's not much room for bold predictions this year!
March is the best time to have a stretch like that though. We're most likely going to have everyone healthy. And its around that time when we're looking to build confidence and go on a run.
