No I see us on best scenario finishing ahead of the Spurs but saying it's a long shot because the Spurs somehow mange to get those 60+ wins seasons not looking brilliant. Realistic scenario will be 3-4 spot for us, but one can always hope to exceed expectations no?
Hard to say right now. We haven't played the Clippers yet. Honestly it doesn't matter how we compare to the Raptors cuz they ain't coming out of the East anyway. I'd say for now: 1) Warriors 2) Cavs 3) Spurs 4) Rockets 5) Raptors 6) Clippers But if we can get another big man(I suppose D-Mo would suffice) and maybe a backup point guard in case Bev gets hurt again(he always does late in the season), we could compete with anyone.
They're 3rd RIGHT NOW at this current moment. Overall I have them #5 for "playoff seed". Warriors Cavs Spurs Clippers Rockets If Rockets beat Spurs next week they'd be unquestionably #3 in league. Even if they dont beat them they'll still be #4 cuz they'll probably have a double digit win going into that game. Plus they've already beaten the Spurs on the road, so they've already proven themselves admirably. They're gelling at right time going into that HOME game With a couple moves or one really good player more, Rockets all of a sudden are really dangerous. Even as-is I like Rockets chances against Spurs and Clippers in playoffs, but lot of season and league moves still to go.
Spurs are a notoriously difficult team to judge as Pop plays for the playoffs and will sacrifice short-term winning to get something right. Teams are trying to play the Spurs 4 on 4 to neutralize Leonard on D as well so Pop will adjust. Clippers always seem to be over-rated. Cavs underrated, and GSW is just a very good team. And the end of the day, we're in the conversation, but the 3 teams that you see as "proven" contenders are the Spurs, GSW, and Cavs. Anybody else (Clips, Rockets, Raptors) still have to prove they can beat one of the top 3 in the playoffs. Only the Clips have done that, but that was 2 years ago.
In terms of power rankings I'd probably go: 1) Cavs 2) Warriors 3) Spurs 4) Rockets But what's more important is Playoffs and as much as I want to stay confident for this year there are some facts that are hard to overlook. There's no way we're ending the season above Warriors or Spurs so we're stuck with the 3rd seed in the best case scenario; don't see us going lower than 4 considering the injuries of Grizzlies/Jazz. This means that in the 1st round we will be facing one of the Jazz, Grizzlies , Thunder and Blazers. I see us beating easily the Thunder and Blazers, but I can't see how we beat Grizzlies or Jazz in less than 7 if they have full rosters and I wouldn't be surprised if we lost to them. I would much prefer to face the Clippers instead of the 2 aformentioned, especially if they somehow ended up with the 6th seed. I think that we're unlucky in the fact that top 6 in the West are really solid teams this year while in the East after Cavs & Raptors pretty much everyone else is a joke.
Warriors - Cavs and Spurs are the only possibles ahead of us in my opinion Toronto and Clippers - are equal or less than us. at best Rocket River
Right now? At this very moment? Number One. Rockets are 19-7 and they played the toughest schedule in the first quarter of the season. The Warrios, cLips, Cavs, and Spuds have all had much easier schedules. How many teams have beaten SA and GS this year? Just one. The Houston Rockets... And they did it @SA and @Oracle.
Fourth, behind the Warriors, Cavs and Spurs. Clippers will be a tough matchup for the Rockets specifically, but I don't think they're actually a better team. Raptors are close, I'd probably actually take them over the Clips. Re: the Spurs not seeming that good, they have played the second toughest schedule in the league to this point (Rockets are first). Having only five losses is damn impressive.
So hard to rank. Still very early in the season and right now everything is going right. I want to wait to see what happens as the season moves on and we deal with minor injuries, guys hitting slumps at the same time, etc.
