To the OP...Yes, go for 6th! Been saying it all along....win it out and then see who Houston will face. If it's Denver, bring it on. San Antonio, why not? OKC, OK. If we win, f*** yeah! (a big) If we lose, we get the experience and (maybe) get D-Howard. Win, Win situation, as far as I'm concerened...
So our exciting matchup with the Thunder would come in the Conference Finals after we beat Denver in the 2nd round. That sounds so crazy but I guess it is possible.
If you think a bruised heel is going to keep Ty Lawson out of the playoffs, think again. That team is not better than us, but they do have our number. They have the advantage of playing at a high altitude and thus their lungs are used to less oxygen. The Rockets breath thick, oxygen rich swamp air. Depending on what you are looking for, the Nuggets might be the perfect opponent. If you want to have weakness exploited so we know how to build for the future, Guy Fieri bam, there's your team. If you want to advance and enjoy this team's run in the playoffs by celebrating wins, you want OKC/SAS. I can't believe you repped that. Saying you think we can beat a gallinari-less Denver doesn't make it true. They are built to stop us, plain and simple.
I really hate the Nuggets, nothing would be more satisfying then to see the Rockets surpise them and everyone else just like this entire season and beat them at their own game!
Last time we were in the playoffs we faced the fakers. If my memory is correct the fakers swept us that same year, and you know what happen after that. I'm not saying hat Denver is an ideal match up but playoffs are a different animal. The high altitude won't be such an advantage anymore, and no more b2b, if the nuggets win the series that means that they beat us 8 times in a year. With that beinv said I would rather play SAS or Memphis
So, Denver is a bad match-up. So are the Thunder and Spurs. I'd like to say maybe the Thunder might overlook us and we could steal a couple of games, but they'll probably be amped playing against Harden. And maybe the Spurs would overlook us and we could steal a couple of games, but the Spurs are a well-disciplined machine; I don't think they have victim to mistakes like that. Denver won't overlook us either; they have as much to prove as the Rockets. I think no matter what we do, we'll be running into a buzzsaw. Given all that, I like the idea of going to the offseason telling free agents that we were #6 seed much better than saying we were #7 or #8. And, as for chances to steal a game or two, chances may not be good against the Nuggets, but they're not any better against the alternatives. At least Denver's had a significant injury, no transcendental star, and not as much intense playoff experience as the alternatives.
This. We have to start to gain confidence and start to trust in our abilities imo. Besides one guy even said smthg about none of the games vs Denver being even close..if you take the last one out they had 24 more points than us over 3 games (the last one was even in our hands till we had that 4th quarter meltdown IN Denver). I'm not delusional to put us as favorites or even in the debate to put any series to 7 games against those 3, but like many mentioned before the experience gained will be huge and to have the 6th seed is a + which noone can take away from us afterwards.
Nuggets usually get beat in the first round... Honestly if the rockets are playing their best ball I fear no team in the west.
Rox should play the best that they can and let the chips fall where they may. HIghly unlikely Rox will make it past the first round anyway so it doesn't matter
funny thing is that is exactly what they will do. all us talking about seeding means nothing. They will play their best and if its 6th its 6th. we can beat the nuggets in a 7 game series. 2 of the losses against nuggets came from 2nd nights of back to back. The rockets were gassed at the 3rd quarter this game but before that we were holding our own. Plus we still didnt have our rotation set...that should be set by playoffs. It better be ha