Yeah, I saw them beat the Spurs and thought they still had a fighting chance to get into the playoffs. They might not be able to squeeze out the Thunder, but they could get past the Nuggets, the Pelicans, or the Wolves. So it's five teams fighting for three spots. The Thunder has the best position for now. For them to miss the playoffs, a lot of things need to happen. Denver is playing better lately. But they are pretty shaky, very unpredictable. So are the Wolves.
41 rebounds in three games. He'll have to average 14 a game. They need to box out better for him for sure... and let the opponents to shoot more.
I'm not sure about that, they have to win 2 out of their 3 remaining games for that to happen and they face the Rockets, Heat, and Grizzlies. Basically if the Rockets decide to give a damn, I don't think it's possible for them to win 2.
1. 63-15 Houston -April 5 vs Portland -April 7 vs Oklahoma City -April 10 @ Los Angeles Lakers -April 11 @ Sacramento 2. 57-21 Golden State -April 5 @ Indiana -April 7 vs New Orleans -April 8 @ Phoenix -April 10 @ Utah 3. 48-30 Portland -April 5 @ Houston -April 7 @ San Antonio -April 9 @ Denver -April 11 vs Utah 4. 45-33 Utah -April 5 vs LA Clippers -April 8 @ Los Angeles Lakers -April 10 vs Golden State -April 11 @ Portland 5. 45-33 San Antonio -April 4 @ Los Angeles Lakers -April 7 vs Portland -April 9 vs Sacramento -April 11 @ New Orleans 6. 45-34 Oklahoma City -April 7 @ Houston -April 9 @ Miami -April 11 vs Memphis 7. 44-34 Minnesota -April 5 @ Denver -April 6 @ Los Angeles Lakers -April 9 vs Memphis -April 11 vs Denver 8. 43-34 New Orleans -April 4 vs Memphis -April 6 @ Phoenix -April 7 @ Golden State -April 9 @ LA Clippers -April 11 vs San Antonio 9. 43-35 Denver -April 5 vs Minnesota -April 7 @ LA Clippers -April 9 vs Portland -April 11 @ Minnesota 10. 42-36 LA Clippers -April 5 @ Utah -April 7 vs Denver -April 9 vs New Orleans -April 11 vs Los Angeles Lakers I see OKC going 2-1, finishing 47-35. (Unsure of who has what tiebreakers) Denver would have to go undefeated (don't see that happening) & LA already has 36 losses. OKC should be safe.
We should lose to OKC and do it by playing Tarik Black for 40 minutes to deny easy rebounds to Russ. This will hurt him way more if we won and he got a trip-dub.
Won't work. Westbrook doesn't grab offensive rebounds. Black will miss so many shots that will give Westbrook a lot more defensive rebounding opportunities.
Something is wrong with OKC. Maybe it's when I watch them, there seems to be no difference in how they played last year. WB rushes the ball up court and doesn't even assess how the defense is playing him. They don't seem to have very much space on offense & Melo doesn't seem completely comfortable. Watch them & us play is like night & day
Denver has the tiebreaker vs OKC. They beat them 3 times and currently have a better division record and conference record. I'm not sure how the tiebreakers go, but if Denver can go 3-1 then they can finish ahead of OKC if they lose two more games, which is very possible. Sota and NO cold finish ahead of OKC in that scenario too, if they win two more games each.
Once again, the media turns to blaming everyone but Russell Westbrook. Do you think for one single minute that if the Rockets were inconsistent or playing poorly that Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza or Clint Capela would be getting the blame? "Russell Westbrook is the best player not on a top-two team" -- Deadspin LOLOLOLOLOL! Anthony Davis, Giannis, LEBRON? There are several players in this league I'd take over Westbrook.
For star players, it's very hard to have good rhythm playing with Russ. Media are saying PG and Melo are trash because they can't even hit wide open shots, but this has lot to do with Russ's poor decision making all year long. Oladipo definitely wins MIP this year, let's see what PG can do in LA next year. There are very few star players that can play with Russ in the league. IMO, there are probably only two in the league, namely Kevin Durant and James Harden. Harden can take the ball away from Russ and make decisions for him, KD doesn't need much rhythm in scoring, he can shoot whenever he catches the ball. If OKC manages to build a team playing Harden as PG, Russ as SG and KD as SF, it will be way more deadly than last year's Warriors, but with the asset they have now, it's practically impossible to do so.
