[2013-14] Western Conference Standings Thread

Things are really starting to come together in the playoff standings... NOT

Hollinger's Playoff Odds is projecting Houston to be the 5th seed.

I'm hoping Portland starts to lose some games again. They have a 5 game road trip that includes DAL, HOU, MEM, SAS, and NO.

The Clippers still have a lot of games against the West but I still think they are prime to put on a run.

At this point, I think you have to root for both of those teams to start losing though. I don't see the Spurs falling from their spot.

Either way, it's going to be tough moving forward but at least Houston has a soft schedule after the second Miami game.

 

The East been weak like that for quite some time now.

Our Rockets before last year could have made the playoffs 5 years in a row over there in the East.

 

Unless we really slump over the next 7 games, we probably finish with a better record than Portland. They've got 2 tough 5-game roadies remaining on their schedule. Staying ahead of the Clippers will be difficult though. Their remaining games are much softer than ours. The only way we catch the Spurs is if we finish our final 23 games with no more than 5 losses. Which is possible, but very unlikely.

 

We play the spurs one more time and own the tie break, so we just need to gain 2 more games on them.

 

I know, but that's still a tall order given the two teams' respective remaining schedules. I think the Rockets have to finish around 58-24(and obviously win that last game against the Spurs) if they hope to catch them.

 

I want the Rockets to have home court in the first round. Sure, that's obvious. We all do, but a side benefit of having home court in the beginning the playoffs, assuming we win that series, is that it will pump up the fans, get those lazy lower bowl season ticket holders in their seats (not talking about the ardent fans that shell out their hard earned bucks to be able to attend every game of their beloved Rockets), with the corporate owners of far too many of those seats actually being in a quandary, attempting to please their top employees and their top customers, who will be busy begging to get into the Toy Box. It would go a long way to solving what's driving most of us crazy. The sight of vast numbers of empty lower bowl seats, while the upper deck remains packed, but impossible to see when watching the games on TV.

 

I would sacrifice home court to be in the 2/7, 3/6 bracket.

Facing the Clippers in the first round is probably a one and done for us.

 

I think we'll get home court in Round 1. I can't see the Warriors, Mavs, Suns, or Grizzlies passing us. And the Blazers will probably lose more than us the rest of the way given their tough schedule.

I'm not worried about the crowds come playoff time. The start times tend to be around 8:30 which eliminates the problem of people showing up late. And the folks in attendance get a lot louder and rowdier in the postseason.

 

The Spurs has kicked it in high gear, so I don't see that happening. But hey anything is possible.

 

The Spurs had two wins on the road against the Clippers and Blazers WITHOUT Tony Parker.

The have the depth and experience to pull out wins even in bad times.

With three games apart, we need to lose no more than six games in our remaining 23 games, even if the Spurs lose as many as 9 more games in their remaining 23.

The Spurs may have an equally slim chance of catching up on the Thunder with 1.5 games apart.

 

Portland has the 2nd or 3rd toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, so we might see a bit of a drop-off from them. As far as the Clippers and Spurs, neither one of them looks like they are going to falter anytime soon, so the Rockets would have to keep a torrid pace if they want to catch them. It's depressing that the 2nd fastest 40-win team in franchise history still has to talk about potentially not having home court in the first round.

 

With 23 games remaining, pretty much all of their future losses in the regular season will happen in the two 5-game road stretches.

But if you check who they'll be playing against, you'll find that only four opposing teams are among the top 7 in the league, out of a total of 13 playoff teams remaining.

But the Rox have 8 more top-7 teams to play among the 12 playoff teams remaining. So I'd say we likely have an even tougher remaining schedule.

 

Agreed 100

 

I am so ready to get this play-off party started. I have a great feeling that the Rockets are going to surprise a lot of people around here, and the nation.

Especially those jar heads on the East Coast.

 

Awesome, Portland lost to the fakers

 

portland lost!!! yippieeeeeeee

 

Can't believe my eyes when I saw the Lakers beat Blazers! What's wrong with the Lakers. They don't want their ping pong balls?

 

omg portland lost! Less pressure to win tomorrow now

 

I think people here use the adjective "tough" to describe how difficult it is to get ahead in the competition for a playoff berth or a higher seed in the NBA playoffs.

As it stands now, the GB between the #3 and the #5 seed in the WC is as narrow as it can be--half a game.

And four teams are fighting for a playoff spot with three teams locked by half a game, and the #9 is only one game behind with a 0.576 win%.

The GB between #1 seed and #9 in the West is 10.5 games, while it's 22.5 games for the East.

I would call this level of competition in the Western Conference red hot or even white hot. And it a really really tough WC.

Can someone remind me of another season for either the East or the West when something like this has happened?

 

<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Games&nbsp;&nbsp;H2H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Div&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Con&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Overall&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Magic&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</B>
<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Team&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W/L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L10&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;H2H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Left&nbsp;&nbsp; TB&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Div&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;TB&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Conf&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;TB&nbsp;&nbsp;TieBreak&nbsp;&nbsp;Number &nbsp;Diff</B>
&nbsp;1&nbsp;OKC&nbsp;Thieves&nbsp;&nbsp;45-15&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;0-2&nbsp;&nbsp;1H,1A&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;27-9&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;No<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;28</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;2&nbsp;Spurs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;43-16&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7-3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3-0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9-3&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;25-10&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes*<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;26</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;3&nbsp;Blazers&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;41-19&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;23-15&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;24</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
&nbsp;4&nbsp;Clippers&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;41-20&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7-3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;0-3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;24-11&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;L&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;No*<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;23</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;5&nbsp;Rockets&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;40-19&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;8-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9-4&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;23-16
&nbsp;6&nbsp;Warriors&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;36-24&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;21-16&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes*<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;18</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;7&nbsp;Suns&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;35-24&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;22-16&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes*<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;18</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;8&nbsp;Mavericks&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;36-25&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9-5&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;18-16&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;18</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;9&nbsp;Grizzlies&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;34-25&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7-3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&nbsp;&nbsp;2-11&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;19-19&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes*<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;17</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
10&nbsp;Wolves&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;30-29&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6-4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-0&nbsp;&nbsp;1H,1A&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;17-22&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;14</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
11&nbsp;Nuggets&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;25-34&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1-9&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1-0&nbsp;&nbsp;1H,1A&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;13-22&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
12&nbsp;Pelicans&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;23-37&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1-9&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-0&nbsp;&nbsp;1H,1A&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3-9&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9-27&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes*<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
13&nbsp;Jazz&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;21-39&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4-6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1-1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;11-26&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(-1)
14&nbsp;Lakers&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;21-39&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3-7&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1H&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;11-23&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
15&nbsp;Kings&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;21-39&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4-6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2-2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;12-27&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;W&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4</B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

* Indicates the Tie Break is final

Here is the latest batch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on <B>3/3</B>.

Slow night at the top, but the Lakers took down the Blazers. We already controlled our destiny against the Blazers, but it's nice to get a game cushion with our upcoming schedule. Blazers lose a Magic Number, and we can knock them down 3 with a win on Sunday. Such a huge game coming up.

A trio of Cellar Dwellers in the Nuggets, Pelicans, and Jazz also lost and drop a point. We could clinch over 3-4 teams by the end of the week if we do well.

Going to be a fun game tonight. I'm really curious to see how we stack up against Miami.

Trying to do these daily, but I just started dating for the first time in 15 years. It's been a bit distracting in a very fun way, but tonight I convinced a date to go see the game at a sports bar. I like when these things come together.