Let the Lakers take the 8th seed and square off against the spurs. We'll take the 7th seed and go against OKC.
If the Lakers stay hot enough to be a ~0.750 team the rest of the way, and I think they can, it pegs 47 wins as the magic number. We already took two from them, so that means 16 wins is our likely number to clinch. 16-8 rest of the way. That is a step up for us, but I can see it. We've definitely jelled and worked out a lot of kinks. Still within that process, but that just means we're going to continue to get better. I'm not in the camp that losing jump shot artist Patterson and jack of no trade Morris is going to set us back significantly. We've got 10 games against the tank patrol (Cle, Orl, Min, Sac, Pho). 2 games against the Warriors, and one against the Jazz, all of which can act as swing games to toss one of them under us in the standings. We only have 2 top tier teams left on the schedule (SA, LAC). This is very doable.
You seriously think the Lakers can go .750 the rest of the way? Because I don't. I see them going about .500.
i don't worry about lakers. it looks like lakers are gradually figuring out thing. it's not too late for them to move into the top 8 unless they go backwards again. those teams just barely above us are our enemies. we have to move up to secure our playoff spot. can we beat them? for sure, we have a good chance. well, lakers are different story. although they were in disarray, they have better players overall than us.
I do. Teams look worse than they really are during slumps. Everyone saw a team that would be right there in the top 4 before the season began, and those other teams are 0.73 to 0.78 on the year so far. So do I think a caught-fire Lakers squad could go 0.700 to 0.750? Yeah. They slumped as badly as possible to start the year, and you think that their record to date (half game off 0.500) is all they've got going forward? I can't see anything worse than 0.600 in March/April. They're 11-4 in their past 15 (0.733). Looking forward on their schedule, they don't have the worst road. 9 games against the clown patrol. One more against OKC, one more against SA, one more against LAC if they still count. I don't think they're going to tread 0.500 water against the likes of Toronto or Milwaukee or even Indiana. I'm a big believer in March-April momentum in this league. Teams go on crazy streaks after the All Star Break, and it helps that other teams start shutting down to tank (or sometimes to rest).
that's the reason lakers are the least concern i have. i am talking about utah, gs. if we want to secure a spot, we have to do better than them.
My prediction: The Rockets and Lakers will be ahead of the Jazz in the standings by the end of March.
If we take care of business they have no hope of catching up. In fact if we take care of business we have a good chance of moving up from the 8th seed.
Lakers and Jazz are fighting for that last spot. We're a lock IMO. Doubt Lakers go .750 the rest of the year. Old and slow ain't winning 3/4 games in the stretch run.
I suppose it's possible, but I think it's very statistically unlikely. Maybe something like a 3-4% chance. There is only one team in the entire NBA with a W/L record over .750 (the Spurs), and they're probably overachieving their talent level a bit. I would not give any team much more than a 50% chance to go .750 over a ~25 game stretch. Even for the best team in the league it's a coin flip proposition to play THAT well. And the Lakers are far from the best team in the league, as they've proven throughout the whole season. As for momentum... I don't buy into it very much. It seems like one of those superstitious things some sports fans and players always blather on about without ever providing evidence that their winning streaks are more than ordinary statistical variance. The Lakers are more likely to go .250 the rest of the way than .750. The median outcome is probably somewhere in between. Most likely they will go .500 or a little above; they've underachieved their talent level, but they're not going to suddenly transform into a #1 seed caliber team.
Laker's current hot streak is over rated...theyve had a really soft schedule the last few weeks...yeah they beat the thunder but outside of that...its a lot of bad teams...if they beat the nuggest tonight i might get a little worried but our schedule is much softer than theirs going forward...if anyone drops itll be the jazz...they got a rough schedule ahead of them...think people are panicking a little too much after the wiz loss...the wiz are much better than their record with wall and it was our 3rd game in 4 nights and both lin and chandler were sick...tough conditions to win...we got this
Wizards are inferior.... they caught us weakened, tired and shorthanded at the big position... took advantage. Simple as that.
Really to me it doesn't matter, both the 7th & 8th seed will play the top echelon in the NBA. If I had to choose I guess I would choose the Spurs just cause I hate them and would get greater pleasure giving them a roundhouse kick to the face!
The Rockets just need to play like they have zero margin for error because its true... they really can't rely on LA, Portland, and Utah to suck. They have to assume that(like past years), those teams are going to play BETTER going down the stretch of the season. The Lakers did not make any trades so they are finally building continuity. Howard is starting to look like his old self and Kobe is still Kobe. It would be extremely over cocky and stupid to just assume that the Rockets are just going to walk their way into the playoffs. The Lakers are going to make a run here in the next few week. I can almost guarantee it. The Rockets better watch their butts, and realize they have zero margin for error.
