Here is the current western conference standings based on ESPN: Western Conference NORTHWEST W L PCT GB HM RD CONF DIV PF PA DIFF STRK L10 Utah (4) 24 14 .632 - 14-4 10-10 16-8 4-2 101.7 99.4 +2.2 Lost 4 4-6 Minnesota (7) 19 16 .543 3 ½ 12-6 7-10 11-10 4-2 95.7 95.1 +0.6 Won 2 7-3 Denver (8) 18 17 .514 4 ½ 10-10 8-7 6-11 3-2 104.8 103.1 +1.7 Won 1 3-7 Portland 15 24 .385 9 ½ 8-12 7-12 10-12 2-3 92.1 97.2 -5.0 Lost 1 2-8 Seattle 14 25 .359 10 ½ 10-9 4-16 6-15 1-5 99.8 102.5 -2.8 Won 1 2-8 PACIFIC W L PCT GB HM RD CONF DIV PF PA DIFF STRK L10 Phoenix (2) 28 8 .778 - 17-3 11-5 12-7 6-2 110.7 102.4 +8.3 Won 9 9-1 LA Lakers (6) 24 13 .649 4 ½ 17-4 7-9 15-7 5-0 104.7 102.4 +2.3 Won 1 6-4 Golden State 18 20 .474 11 14-7 4-13 12-13 2-5 105.4 106.9 -1.6 Lost 3 4-6 LA Clippers 17 20 .459 11 ½ 12-7 5-13 11-15 2-4 95.2 97.2 -2.0 Lost 1 6-4 Sacramento 14 21 .400 13 ½ 10-11 4-10 8-15 2-6 101.3 101.8 -0.4 Lost 6 3-7 SOUTHWEST W L PCT GB HM RD CONF DIV PF PA DIFF STRK L10 Dallas (1) 31 8 .795 - 17-3 14-5 21-6 7-2 99.2 92.5 +6.7 Won 4 9-1 San Antonio (3) 27 11 .711 3 ½ 14-6 13-5 18-7 6-3 99.2 90.3 +8.8 Won 4 6-4 Houston (5) 25 13 .658 5 ½ 13-3 12-10 13-11 5-2 95.7 89.7 +6.0 Won 4 9-1 NO/Oklahoma City 14 22 .389 15 ½ 8-10 6-12 6-16 2-5 90.2 94.7 -4.5 Won 2 3-7 Memphis 9 29 .237 21 ½ 7-12 2-17 4-16 0-8 97.8 102.5 -4.7 Lost 2 3-7 What I don't understand is why Utah at 24-14 is ahead of Rox (25-13). If being the division leader guarantees top 3 seeding, then why are the Spurs (27, 11) ahead of the Jazz? What gives
The division winners + the best non-div winner gets top 4 seeds according to records. My question is if Jaxx continue to trail Rox, for example, which team would be seeded higher? Or in a better example/question, what happens if the Atlantic mess continues and a team 'wins' that division with perhaps the 7th best record in the east then how does seeding go?
The Jazz would be seeded 4th and the Rockets 5th, but only in name. If we're the 5th seed and have a better record than the 4th seed, we get homecourt advantage...so in effect it would be as if everything were seeded by conference, but in name we would be the "underdog" seed. Fine by me - but with the Spurs currently trailing the Bulls, we could be setting our sights higher! If things stay the way they are, we'd be in line for a 2nd round matchup with the Mavs in if we're the 5 seed, or with the Suns if we're the 3 seed. Take your choice. We've just got to take care of business.
So this is the new rule, huh? That sucks man. So as long as the other two Texas teams are ahead of us we will not do better than #5, which means no first round home court advantage. Oh well, guess it won't matter much if you are the Rockets cause we won the last champiohship from the 6th seed
It's better than the last season when the Mavs owned the 2nd best record in the West and they were #4.
I don't have a problem with this! just on paper we're seeded 5th, but I hope we can get in front of SA by the end of the season and I know I'm asking a lot!
Assuming an ascension into the 2nd round, can this team realistically compete over 7 games with Mavs or Suns? I wish I were more optimistic (v Mavs/Suns, particularly the Suns) but I sure hope to find out.
Why not? With some help on the PG spot, we can hang with either. Dallas IMO is a little easier of the two for us as far as matchup goes. As good as Dirk is, he can be shut down. Tmac and Dirk offset. They have quickies like Terry, Harris, and Howard. Especially Howard can cause us some major headache. But we have the big fellow that they have nobody to guard. If we can dictate the play style down the end, slow it down grind it out, in and out, we have a chance aginst Dallas in a series at least. Now, the Suns. They are pain in the azz for us. The one sun that extremely painful for us is Diaw. We cant let them open up, which is easy to say than done. I dont feel good about our chance against the Suns. But then, we may not need to face them at all, becuase Lakers and Utah could be the Sun killer in the first round.
Ugh, I agree. This team just does not seem to match up well with the Suns. Kind of the way Dallas used to always just pound us, several years back.
As NIKEstrad said, according to the new rule, Utah will get the 4th spot and Houston gets 5th. But the home court advantage is decided by the regular season record, which means that Houston owns home court advantage. If we have better record.
There is no difference between the 4 and 5 seed anymore. Best record gets home court....that's all that matters. Anyway, it's WAY to early to be concerned with rankings.
yeah, so getting the 5th spot is very critical for us, as he have a losing record against the lakers. I pretty sure that jazz has flame out their fuels and starting to show their problems. IN that dividison, wolves are close behind. It's pretty guaratnee that whoever get the 5th spot will go to the second round.
a part of me is wishing someone from the Atlantic division gets into the playoffs with a losing record just to see what rules Stern will change next. it might just make him eliminate division winners all together which would be better. the top 8 eight teams should go to the playoffs.
NJ is the eighth seed with alosing record of 17-20 Toronto, leading the Atlantic, is 18-20... so its not just the division, its the entire conference.... as it stands right now, no team with a winning record is missing out of the eastern conference playoff picture
i just noticed we have the third best point differential behind dallas, phoenix and san antonio. a stat like that bodes well for the overall consistentcy and future of this team. teams with lower pt diff tend to falter and will have a bad stretch somewhere. (look at utah who is beating teams now by a little more than 2pts/game)
