Schedules

Forty-one games was enough last season.

The Indiana Pacers won eight of their last 10 games to reach .500 and climb into the playoffs as the Boston Celtics dropped seven of 10 and began looking for tee times.

The Pacers beat the likes of Cleveland, Chicago and pre-Jordan Washington while the Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia Sixers. The Pacers defeated six teams in their glorious stretch that finished with an average of 24 wins while every Celtic loss in that stretch was to a team that went on to participate in the playoffs.

It wasn't in the cards, the schedule or the spring equinox of Sagittarius for the Celtics.

This year, as we head out of the All Star break, the Pacers are right where they left off at 25 wins and 25 loses with, what we calculate, as the fourth easiest second-half schedule in the conference.

We added up the number of road games, figured out the number of quality opponents, took into account travel and back-to-back games plus added in late-season big games for the hyper-scientifical results.

So don't be surprised when the Celtics, currently three games ahead of the Pacers, are starting to feel Reggie Miller's breath on the back of their necks simply because the Celtics play one more road game than the Pacers and three more games against teams with a winning record.

So much for leprechauns.

TOP 5 CAKE WALKS
1. Orlando Magic

Current Record: 25-25 (No. 7 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 16 road games/16 game vs. .500+
Notes: They begin with eight games in February (two against playoff-caliber teams) and end with seven games in April (two against those playoff teams). They never have to travel farther than Houston out West and get three games each against the two worst teams in their Atlantic Division (NY and Mia) and two games each against the two worst teams in the entire Eastern Conference (Cle and Chi). Forget just scratching to make the playoffs. After this walk in the park, they may be looking for some home-court advantage in the first round. A match up with Boston, the current No. 4 seed, on March 6 ends a seven-game road trip, the one tough stretch for the easiest second-half schedule in the Eastern Conference.

2. Toronto Raptors

Current Record: 29-21 (No. 3 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 15 road games/19 games vs. 500+
Notes: Coming down the homestretch of April, the Raptors have been gift-wrapped back-to-back games with Chicago followed by games with Charlotte, Atlanta and Cleveland. In that same crucial month, they get six home games versus three on the road. But one of those road games comes April 16 when Toronto matches up with Central leading Milwaukee. But the point may be moot by then considering that before the Raptors even get to April, they'll already have played a six-game homestand to end February and begin March.

3. Atlanta Hawks

Current Record: 16-33
Upcoming Schedule: 15 road games/19 games vs. .500+
Notes: If they can just survive a six-game Western Conference road trip in February, the Hawks will only have to play a grand total of nine road games the next two months of the season. And while there may be only five teams in the entire NBA with worse records than Atlanta, the Hawks get to play these very same teams 10 times.

4. Indiana Pacers

Current Record: 25-25 (1/2 game behind No. 8 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 16 road games/18 games vs. .500+
Notes: Four of their first five games are at home while the rest of the schedule includes three dates with Cleveland and two each with Golden State and Miami. But their biggest scheduling benefit remains that the Pacers have to play on back-to-back nights four times the entire second half and three of those games end at home, one of those dates being a regular-season finale against the Sixers, the one team currently keeping the Pacers out of the postseason, on April 17.

5. Philadelphia 76ers

Current Record: 25-24 (No. 8 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 13 road games/22 games vs. .500+
Notes: Last season, the Sixers had the best road record in the league with a sparkling 27-14 mark but have fallen to 13-15 so far this year. So it's a good thing they've got an Eastern Conference low 13 games away from home all second half. And don't let those 22 games against playoff-caliber teams scare you. Six of those games are split evenly with the Pacers and Magic, two teams separated from the Sixers by only 1/2 game.


BOTTOM 5 DEATH MARCHES
25. Detroit Pistons

Current Record: 26-21 (No. 5 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 17 road games/22 games vs. .500+
Notes: The poor guys are never at home for more than three games at any time and have one road trip that starts in Milwaukee and ends in Los Angeles with five games in only seven days. This bodes very badly for a team that already has one seven-game losing streak under its belt.

26. New Jersey Nets

Current Record: 32-15 (No. 1 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 18 road games/21 games vs. .500+
Notes: They begin on the road and end on the road with a nine-game stretch in the middle that features seven road games in 15 days. In April, seven of their eight games are against current playoff qualifying teams, the one expected breather is the season finale on April 17 against New York in New York, where this terrible team still posts a winning record and, as cross-town rivals, would love to knock down the upstarts a notch or two.

27. Cleveland Cavaliers

Current Record: 15-33
Upcoming Schedule: 17 road games/24 games vs. .500+
Notes: Let us count the ways. In February, eight of their nine games are against teams with winning records. In March, they have a three-game Western Conference road trip that humps with the Lakers. In April, they play more than every other game on the road. Good luck on improving that third-worst 4-20 road ulcer.

28. Washington Wizards

Current Record: 26-21 (No. 6 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 19 road games/23 games vs. .500+
Notes: If Michael Jordan doesn't have his legs back yet, he's about the get them cut from underneath him. The Wizards begin the second half with a three-game Western Conference road swing that includes TV dates with the Lakers and Kings, which is only a warm up for their hellacious seven-game Western Conference road binge that is stretched over 12 agonizing days. Jordan then gets to lead the Wizards into an April schedule that features four more road games and four of five home games against current playoff qualifying teams, including the Lakers and Sixers, the latter opponent perhaps fighting the Wiz for the last playoff spot in the East with home-and-home matchups on April 10 and 12.

29. New York Knicks

Current Record: 19-28
Upcoming Schedule: 19 road games/24 games vs. .500+
Notes: Might as well kick them when their down. The NBA schedulers are. They've given the Knicks four three-game road trips, two of them to the West Coast. Their first nine games at home are against teams that would all qualify for the playoffs as we speak. And how in the heck did this Eastern Conference team get two games each against the Lakers and Kings and matchups with the Timberwolves and Spurs? And to top it off, the powers that be have even thrown two games of New Jersey salt into the wound to seal the gauntlet.

 

Utah wins 50 games a year.

The Earth is round. The sky is blue. And every time Karl Malone misses a shot he was fouled.

Talk all you want about their Olympic-imposed exile that will see the Jazz play seven games on the road over 15 days or their five-game and four-game road trips that will follow. Do the math, trying to add up their 25 wins in 49 games and double-check your answer of 42 wins projected.

But before you get too far, realize that the Jazz will play only 17 games against teams that currently qualify for the playoffs, meaning that 16 of them are not. And that the Jazz will play 11 games against inferior Eastern Conference teams and will have a five-game homestand to call their very own.

The Jazz are currently the eighth-seeded team in the West. Their next closest competition are the Suns, one game back but with 21 future opponents who will make the playoffs. After the Suns are the Clippers, who are two games behind but have 20 games against those same playoff teams.

It might be easier to look up at the Blazers, who are a half-game ahead of the Jazz but face 22 games against playoff-caliber teams.

Quick, name the second-place team in the Midwest Division last year, five or six or even seven years after they were supposed to be all washed up.

It was the Jazz with 53 wins.


TOP 5 CAKE WALKS
1. Seattle SuperSonics

Current Record: 25-23 (No. 7 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 16 road games/18 game vs. .500+
Notes: No team in the Western Conference has fewer road games than the Sonics and eight of those 16 are against teams that aren't going to make the playoffs anyways. Take into account that Seattle has beaten the World Champion Lakers five of the last six times over the last two seasons and that relatively small number of 18 games against the top teams becomes even smaller. The Western Conference is tough all over, but if Payton and Co. can survive their first six games against playoff-caliber teams, they can feast through March, especially an eight-game stretch near the end that features only two quality opponents. They've got a long way to go to reach homecourt, but not a bad place to be for a team that finished down and out of the playoffs last season.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves

Current Record: 33-16 (No. 4 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 16 road games/19 games vs. 500+
Notes: They do have the Lakers and Spurs sandwiched between two grueling four-game road trips but only after they play three home games against teams averaging 18 wins apiece and before they get served a 12-game stretch in which only two games are on the road and six are against non-playoff teams. Another four-game road trip awaits them near the ned of the schedule but the Timberwolves never travel East for more than a day and get to play Denver, Memphis and Golden State, the three worst teams in the Western Conference with only 14 wins each, a combined total of seven times. First-round homecourt advantage and the franchise's first playoff series win are almost assured.

3. San Antonio Spurs

Current Record: 31-17 (No. 5 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: Is it us or does every tough game for San Antonio seem book-ended by either cream puffs or extended days off? In fact, nine of those 17 road games are against teams that don't have a chance of making the playoffs, meeting Dallas and Minnesota, the two teams ahead of them in the Midwest, only once each on the road. In fact, most of those road games come near the end of schedule when the Spurs have had more than enough time to put together one their patented playoff prepping runs that saw them finish with the best record in the league last season.

4. Memphis Grizzlies

Current Record: 14-35
Upcoming Schedule: 16 road games/20 games vs. .500+
Notes: When you're 5-20 on the road, it's tough to say that any amount of games away from home is a benefit, but 16 isn't very much. Plus, these guys get to play eight games against Eastern Conference opponents. And they're going to need all the help they can get if they even hope to reach the 23 wins they scratched out last season.

5. Sacramento Kings

Current Record: 14-35
Upcoming Schedule: 16 road games/20 games vs. .500+
Notes: I guess it isn't enough that they've already pasted together the best record in the league with several of their stars already serving their injured time, but now they get to feast on a second-half schedule that features only 17 games against decent teams. Yeah, sure, they've got a six-game road grind to end March and begin April, but four of those opponents won't make the playoffs and another is Detroit. They also get to warm up with four homes games in a row to start the second half and another similar set in March before their Armageddon matchup with the Lakers on April 17 in the regular season finale.


BOTTOM 5 DEATH MARCHES
25. Houston Rockets

Current Record: 16-33
Upcoming Schedule: 18 road games/23 games vs. .500+
Notes: Last year, they finished 12 games above .500 and still didn't make the playoffs. This year, two games over the hump may make it in but the Rockets won't even get close. Not when 12 of your 18 road games are against teams going to the playoffs and you've got eight back-to-back back breakers to deal with.

26. Dallas Mavericks

Current Record: 35-14 (No. 2 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 18 road games/21 games vs. .500+
Notes: Just when they climb to the top of the Midwest Division, they look down and see two four-game road trips in which every single team could very well make the playoffs, one of them being an East Coast swing that will keep them out of Texas for the end of March. In fact, their last 10 road games are against teams that would make the postseason if it started today. The good news is that Dallas still has a 10-game stretch in which only one game will be on the road. The bad news is that the Mavs have just as many loses at home (7), as they do on the road (7).

27. Los Angeles Lakers

Current Record: 33-13 (No. 3 seed)
Upcoming Schedule: 17 road games/24 games vs. .500+
Notes: No team in either conference plays more games against tough opponents than the Lakers but that may very well spell doom for the rest of the league. Consider that the Lakers are actually on a better pace right now than when they were last season when they virtually swept through the playoffs unscathed and they've done it while losing seven of their 13 games to teams that don't have a chance of making the playoffs. They may be three games behind the frontrunning Kings, but still have a better Western Conference record than they do. Simply, the Lakers play better when it counts. And more times than any other team this second-half, those games will.

28. Golden State Warriors

Current Record: 14-32
Upcoming Schedule: 19 road games/24 games vs. .500+
Notes: Count 'em. Three road trips that will take them back East and the only club in the entire league that has matchups with every division-leading team on the board. They even get one six-game road trip that delivers them battered and beaten home to face the Lakers, Mavs and Jordan. Golden State will blow away last season's total of 17 wins, but it sure won't feel like it when it plays six of its last seven games against playoff teams.

29. Denver Nuggets

Current Record: 14-31
Upcoming Schedule: 21 road games/23 games vs. .500+
Notes: Don't unpack your bags. The Nuggets have a whopping 21 games on the road this second half, including three that will take them back East for extended periods of time. They've only got two homestands that last even more than two games and, to top it all off, have 24 games that will be played back to back.