The last 6 games before the Jazz game are against Spurs, Dallas, OKC, and the Pelicans. I think this is a good stretch right before the playoffs to get us ready, as all of those teams will be still trying to find their positions in the playoff.
What is the tiebreaker against the Grizzlies? Conference record? Seems a stretch the Rockets will have that at the end of day... will need to finish with less losses. They have a fairly difficult schedule to finish the season: Mavs/Blazers abck to back Friday and Saturday, Knicks, Cavs, Warriors, Spurs, Kings, Thunder, Wiz, Pelicans, Jazz, Clippers, Warriors, Pacers Not that anyone has an easy schedule, but Rockets is a bit easier: Nugs, Suns, Pacers, Pelicans, TWolves, Wizards, Raptors (back to back away), Kings, Mavs, Thunder, Spurs, Spurs, Pelicans, Hornets, Jazz. The stretch from April 2 - 12 will be important (Mavs through Pelicans) In terms of opponent quality, the Blazers might be the easiest. I'd rank remaining opponent difficulty as Hardest = Grizzlies Middle = Rockets Easiest = Blazers Not even going to think about the what if the Rockets drop below 4 scenarios!
The Heat helped us tonight wIth a win over portland. Are we 3rd now with portland having the tie-breaker?
Just checked and if the nba.com standings are up to date then portland had 21 losses so we are still 4th by a few percentage points
Pretty much. We're 45-22. They're 44-22. Hence us currently being in 3rd place. But we do have to finish with fewer losses than them in order to wind up ahead in the standings.
Games H2H Div Con Overall Magic Team W/L L10 H2H Left TB Div TB Conf TB Tiebreak Number Diff 1 Warriors 54-13 8-2 0-4 None L 31-8 L No* 25 2 Grizzlies 47-21 5-5 2-2 None T 7-6 L 29-13 L No 17 3 Rockets 45-22 6-4 5-6 25-16 4 Blazers 44-22 7-3 1-2 None L 24-14 L No* 16 (-1) 5 Clippers 44-25 6-4 2-2 None T 29-14 L No 13 6 Mavericks 44-25 5-5 2-1 1A W 6-6 L 23-17 W Yes 13 7 Spurs 42-25 8-2 1-1 1H,1A T 4-6 W 23-18 W Yes 13 8 Thunder 38-30 6-4 2-0 1A W 20-21 W Yes* 7 9 Pelicans 37-30 7-3 0-2 1H,1A L 7-5 L 21-16 W No 8 10 Suns 35-33 5-5 3-0 1H W 17-22 W Yes* 4 11 Jazz 30-37 8-2 2-1 1H W 15-22 W Yes 1 (-1) * Indicates the Tie Break is final Clinched the #11 seed Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/18. Easy victory for Golden State The highly anticipated matchup between the best team in the West and the best team in the East didn't meet the expectations. Atlanta just didn't play well. In the first quarter, the Warriors held their opponent in the game by turning the ball over time and time again, but pulled away with great passing in the second and never looked back, they had 39 assists on 44 field goals! Harrison Barnes scored 25 points on 11-13 shooting and Draymond Green knocked down five threes. For the Hakws, Al Horford and Dennis Schröder were an abysmal 5-30 from the field combined and helped Golden State on the way to a 114-95 win. LMA not enough against hot Heat starters In a close game in Florida, Dwyane Wade went crazy in the fourth and scored 15 of the Heat's last 17 points, but Miami couldn't pull away. With a chance to tie the game or win it with a three-pointer, Portland commited a terrible turnover on the inbounds pass which sealed the game, Portland lost 104-108. Aldridge had 34/12, but was countered by Dwyane Wade with 32 points, the Heat legend was heavily supported by Goran Dragic (20 points, 11 assists) and Luol Deng (24 points). 25 loss pack stays at 25 With DeMarcus Cousins out, the game in Sacramento got a ton easier for the Los Angeles Clippers. Still, the Kings tied the game early in the fourth quarter, but they fell short 105-116 in the end. Chris Paul and J.J. Redick combined for 57 points while Hedo Turkoglu's moving body scored 19 points for the Clippers. Rudy Gay on the other hand went 6-19 from the field. The Orlando Magic didn't have to travel too far on their back-to-back as they played in Dallas last night. Even though the Mavericks had a 16-point lead going into the final quarter, they allowed Orlando to get to within one single point in the last minute of regulation. Oladipo had the chance to send the game into overtime, but threw up a terrible three-pointer, Dallas won 107-102, Nowitzki scored a game-high 25 points. Against a young Milwaukee team, the Spurs pulled away in the second quarter and early in the third and didn't allow the Bucks to get back into the game. Danny Green had 20 points and 8 rebounds while Boris Diaw contributed with 18/6/5 off the bench. For Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 19 points and 9 rebounds in his team's 103-114 loss. One big quarter is enough After trailing by 4 at halftime against Boston, the Oklahoma City Thunder exploded for 40 points in the third quarter. The Celtics fought their way back into the game in the fourth quarter, but their run came too late, the Thunder win 122-118. Westbrook put up 36/5/10 with 5 steals, Celtics rookie Marcus Smart made a career-high 7 threes on his way to a career-high 25 points. Jazz are almost out The Utah Jazz forced a lot of turnovers, but the Washington Wizards converted more than 50% of their shots on their way to a ]88-84 win in Salt Lake City. A win by the Rockets today would put Utah out of the Magic Numbers picture. Thursday games The Rockets want to strenghthen their third place in the West against Denver while New Orleans has to win against the Suns (huge matchup advantage in the front court) in order to get the last playoff spot back. Nuggets at Rockets, Pelicans at Suns, Jazz at Lakers
Games H2H Div Con Overall Magic Team W/L L10 H2H Left TB Div TB Conf TB Tiebreak Number Diff 1 Warriors 54-13 8-2 0-4 None L 31-8 L No* 24 (-1) 2 Grizzlies 47-21 5-5 2-2 None T 7-6 L 29-13 L No 16 (-1) 3 Rockets 46-22 6-4 5-6 26-16 4 Blazers 44-22 7-3 1-2 None L 24-14 L No* 15 (-1) 5 Clippers 44-25 6-4 2-2 None T 29-14 L No 12 (-1) 6 Mavericks 44-25 5-5 2-1 1A W 6-6 L 23-17 W Yes 12 (-1) 7 Spurs 42-25 8-2 1-1 1H,1A T 4-6 W 23-18 W Yes 12 (-1) 8 Thunder 38-30 6-4 2-0 1A W 20-21 W Yes* 6 (-1) 9 Pelicans 37-31 6-4 0-2 1H,1A L 7-5 L 21-17 W No 6 (-2) 10 Suns 36-33 5-5 3-0 1H W 18-22 W Yes* 3 (-1) 11 Jazz 31-37 8-2 2-1 1H W 16-22 W Yes Silenced * Indicates the Tie Break is final Clinched the #10 seed Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/19. The Beard goes off in Championship Reunion Game What a great night this was in Houston! All the legends from the two Championship years were in the house, Calvin Murphy commentating the game with Bill, a great halftime show where the legends were honored, even the legendary radio crew was there. Oh, the game: Houston built up a comfortable lead in the second quarter and didn't allow the Nuggets to get back. The big reason for that was of course James Harden who found open lanes to the basket all night long and scored a career-high 50 points! He joins Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Vernon Maxwell, Hakeem Olajuwon and Calvin Murphy in the group of Rockets scoring 50 points or more. The Rockets sweep their season series against the Nuggets with this 118-108 win. No offense, but that offense was terrible Anthony Davis turned his ankle in practice and was out for the Pelicans' game in Phoenix. To add to that, Omer Asik suffered a calf strain early in the second half and had to leave the game after grabbing 14 boards in 18 minutes. Both teams were ice cold and shot way below 40%, the Suns won 74-72. In another ugly game, the Utah Jazz were surprisingly outrebounded by the Lakers, but superior three point and foul shooting got them a 80-73 victory. But to us, it doesn't matter as the launch of the Rocket silences the Jazz anyway. Friday games A bunch of interesting games on Friday, especially the matchup between the Grizzlies and the Mavericks should be interesting for the Rockets in their fight for the second seed. Trail Blazers at Magic, Hawks at Thunder, Grizzlies at Mavericks, Celtics at Spurs, Pelicans at Warriors, Wizards at Clippers
You know Houston just needs to get healthy. They have a favorable schedule for the remaining month with games against NOP, WAS, TOR as the only three playoff teams left for the month. I put NOP as a playoff because they seem to go back and forth with OKC. The only thing that kind of sucks for Houston is that they have a 4 game in 5 nights again. I really hope Adam Silver does something about the scheduling. I don't think it's good for any team to play that many games in a 5 day stretch. Houston has 8 games left in April with 6 of them against teams over .500. Four of these games are against our division with two games left with San Antonio. I think it's very important for Houston to go 3-1 during that stretch. With Howard coming back, I think it's very doable and it's a great opportunity for him to knock off the rust. At the beginning of the year, I had Houston winning 56 games. I still think they can do it with 14 games remaining.
A gift from Orlando tonight beating the Blazers. Payton consecutive triple doubles. He said the game is slowing down for him. The kid can be really good.
Games H2H Div Con Overall Magic Team W/L L10 H2H Left TB Div TB Conf TB Tiebreak Number Diff 1 Warriors 55-13 9-1 0-4 None L 32-8 L No* 24 2 Grizzlies 48-21 6-4 2-2 None T 8-6 L 30-13 L No 16 3 Rockets 46-22 6-4 5-6 26-16 4 Blazers 44-23 6-4 1-2 None L 24-14 L No* 14 (-1) 5 Clippers 45-25 6-4 2-2 None T 29-14 L No 12 6 Spurs 43-25 8-2 1-1 1H,1A T 4-6 W 23-18 W Yes 12 7 Mavericks 44-26 5-5 2-1 1A W 6-7 L 23-18 W Yes 11 (-1) 8 Thunder 39-30 7-3 2-0 1A W 20-21 W Yes* 6 9 Pelicans 37-32 5-5 0-2 1H,1A L 7-5 L 21-18 W No 5 (-1) 10 Suns 36-33 5-5 3-0 1H W 18-22 W Yes* 3 11 Jazz 31-37 8-2 2-1 1H W 16-22 W Yes Silenced * Indicates the Tie Break is final Clinched the #10 seed Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/20. I don't have much time, so only a few notes. Warriors, Clippers and Spurs won easily The Trail Blazers lost to the Magic 104-111, Elfrid Payton had his second straight triple-double (23/10/10), LMA's 31 points were not enough. Dallas didn't help us (of course not...) and lost to Memphis 101-112. Saturday games Go Rockets! If Houston wins, the Suns are almost done with the Magic Number dropping to one. The matchup between Memphis and Portland that also starts at 7:00pm Houston time is obviously very important for the Rockets' seeding situation. Suns at Rockets, Trail Blazers at Grizzlies, Jazz at Warriors
Thanks for the continuous work. I'd rather have Portland dropping another game tonight so the Rockets can sit tighter at the 3rd position first. With TJ injured, I'm not sure the Rockets can move up over Memphis to the 2nd spot.
If we keep the third seed, i think we're going to end up playing the spurs in the first round. I think it's worse case scenario for us to draw them. I don't trust our coaching staff against Pop and company.
Just a small breakdown of everyone's remaining schedule: Houston - 14 games left with 6 at home and 8 on the road. 8 games against lottery bound teams but two of those games are against NOP. 5 games left in our division and 4 games left against playoff teams in the West. 3 back to back games left. Dallas - 12 games left with 5 at home and 7 on the road. 6 games against lottery bound teams. 3 games left in the division. 2 back to back games left on their schedule. Clippers - 12 games left with 5 at home and 7 on the road. 8 games against lottery bound teams but one of those games are against NOP. 4 games left in their division but only one of those games are against a playoff team. One back to back game left on their schedule. Memphis - 13 games left with 8 at home and 5 on the road. 8 games left against playoff bound teams plus one game against NOP. 2 games left against the division. 3 back to back games left on their schedule. Portland - 15 games left with 7 at home and 8 on the road. Portland has always struggled on the road. 6 games against playoff teams with one game left with NOP. 5 games left with their division. 5 back to back games left starting tonight against Memphis. They do have a 4 games in 5 nights on their schedule. San Antonio - 14 games left with 7 at home and 7 on the road. They have 10 games against playoff bound teams plus one game against NOP. 6 games left in their division. 2 back to back games left on their schedule. Memphis and San Antonio have a tougher schedule than the rest everyone else. Portland, Clippers, and Dallas have a easier schedule but Portland has a lot of back to back games and they struggle on the road.
Strength of remaining schedule based simply on record. http://www.playoffstatus.com/nba/westernsosrg.html Just based on record, Rockets have an easier schedule than everyone but the Thunder and Clippers. Clippers schedule is one of the easiest in the league.
Games H2H Div Con Overall Magic Team W/L L10 H2H Left TB Div TB Conf TB Tiebreak Number Diff 1 Warriors 56-13 9-1 0-4 None L 33-8 L No* 24 2 Grizzlies 49-21 6-4 2-2 None T 8-6 L 31-13 L No 16 3 Rockets 46-23 5-5 5-6 26-17 4 Blazers 44-24 5-5 1-2 None L 24-15 L No* 13 (-1) 5 Clippers 45-25 6-4 2-2 None T 29-14 L No 12 6 Spurs 43-25 8-2 1-1 1H,1A T 4-6 W 23-18 W Yes 12 7 Mavericks 44-26 5-5 2-1 1A W 6-7 L 23-18 W Yes 11 8 Thunder 39-30 7-3 2-0 1A W 20-21 W Yes* 6 9 Pelicans 37-32 5-5 0-2 1H,1A L 7-5 L 21-18 W No 5 10 Suns 37-33 6-4 3-1 None W 19-22 W Yes* 3 11 Jazz 31-38 8-2 2-1 1H W 16-23 W Yes Silenced * Indicates the Tie Break is final Clinched the #10 seed Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/21. Terrible defense leads to loss Well... A really frustrating game for us Rockets fans. The defense was terrible and thus Bledsoe (scored a career-high 34 points) and the Morris twins (both with 17 points) had a field day for the red hot Suns. James Harden was really bad, he couldn't hit anything and his isolations were wasted possessions today. Thus, his plus-minus of -27 was the worst of the game by a gigantic margin. Final result: 102-117. Top seeds win The Warriors just keep rolling despite the injury of Klay Thompson. They didn't have any problems against the Utah Jazz, winning 106-91 behind 23 points by Stephen Curry. LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum had to leave the game against Memphis early with injuries. They are lucky to be division leaders as they could be in real trouble should an additional two starters miss some time. The Grizzlies' starting lineup was dominant and led the team to a 97-86 victory, the second seed appears to be pretty safe for Memphis. Sunday games San Antonio and OKC have to go up against two good teams from the Eastern Conference. The Clippers go up against the injury-ridden Pelicans while the Suns have to win against the Mavericks to keep their tiny playoff hopes alive. Heat at Thunder, Spurs at Hawks, Pelicans at Clippers, Mavericks at Suns
Unfortunately, this will be the last Magic Numbers post I write this year. I really enjoy doing these summaries, but I won't be able to do these posts in the next weeks. Let's hope for a good playoff position and a deep run for our Rockets and thanks for your interest! --------------------------------------------------- Games H2H Div Con Overall Magic Team W/L L10 H2H Left TB Div TB Conf TB Tiebreak Number Diff 1 Warriors 56-13 9-1 0-4 None L 33-8 L No* 24 2 Grizzlies 49-21 6-4 2-2 None T 8-6 L 31-13 L No 16 3 Rockets 46-23 5-5 5-6 26-17 4 Blazers 44-24 5-5 1-2 None L 24-15 L No* 13 5 Clippers 46-25 6-4 2-2 None T 30-14 L No 12 6 Spurs 44-25 8-2 1-1 1H,1A T 4-6 W 23-18 W Yes 12 7 Mavericks 44-27 5-5 2-1 1A W 6-7 L 23-19 W Yes 10 (-1) 8 Thunder 40-30 7-3 2-0 1A W 20-21 W Yes* 6 9 Suns 38-33 7-3 3-1 None W 20-22 W Yes* 3 10 Pelicans 37-33 5-5 0-2 1H,1A L 7-5 L 21-19 W No 4 (-1) * Indicates the Tie Break is final Clinched the #10 seed Here is the latest bunch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on 3/22 Clippers and Spurs stay hot While Anthony Davis returned to the action for New Orleans, Tyreke Evans was out, thus only two of the Pelicans' six top players joined the action against the Clippers. New Orleans led after the first half, but the Clippers' starters were simply better in the second half, Paul and Griffin with 23 points each led their team to a 107-100 victory while Anthony Davis' 23/12/5/2/2 statline wasn't enough. The Pelicans drop back to the tenth seed and are probably all but out of the playoff race. San Antonio made a trip to Atlanta, blew the Hawks out in the first half and simply held them to distance after the break, the game ended 114-95. The Spurs' starters outscored their counterpartes by 20, with Tiago Splitter scoring a season-high 24 and Kawhi Leonard putting up 20/10/7 with 4 steals. The only Hawks who had it tonight were Paul Millsap (22/7) and young PG stud Dennis Schröder with the umlaut who put up 18 points and 5 assists. Suns don't give up The Phoenix Suns won their second straight game against a Texan team, defeating the Dallas Mavericks 98-92. Phoenix built up a 15-point lead in the first half, but allowed Dallas to come back in the third quarter. The game was tied with three minutes remaining, but the Suns hit some big shots and locked down on defense. Westbrook triple-double, Thunder win Another game, another triple-double for Westbrook. He had only 12 points, but 10 rebounds and 17 assists while Enes Kanter helped out in the scoring department, putting up 15 points in the first quarter alone and 27 points in the game. The Head were just bad on offense and lost 75-93 Monday games Go Rockets! Indiana has lost 5 straight, this game should be winnable. For Golden State and Memphis, the opponents don't seem to be difficult. Rockets at Pacers, Grizzlies at Knicks, Wizardsat Warriors
