Its been said twice in this thread already: After division and conference record comes record in games against play-off teams. Rockets have this TB over the Spurs.
I just have a feeling that the last game of the year @ Dallas is going to be a big deal, seeding wise.. If we need to lose it for certain reasons. do it.. i won't lose sleep over it .
Don't you think Jazz could be the 6the seed? They have a pretty easy schedule also if you compare it with the Hornets? Jazz: > 3-1 (or 4-0) Fri, Apr 10 @ San Antonio = W Sat, Apr 11 Golden State (home) = W Mon, Apr 13 L.A. Clippers (home) = W Tue, Apr 14 @ L.A. Lakers = L (could be a win if the Fakers will rest a few starters ...) Hornets: > 1-3 (or 0-4) Fri, Apr 10 @ Dallas = L (did you saw the Mavericks against Jazz last night?) Sun, Apr 12 Dallas (home) = W (could be a loss if Mavericks stay hot) Mon, Apr 13 @ Houston = L Wed, Apr 15 @ San Antonio = L (Spurs can still win this without Manu) .... Rockets 3the seed vs. Jazz 6th seed
This is my favorite part of the season (well, right behind free agency...but I am growing out of that after a few too many heartbreaks... coughstromilecoughbonzicoughsteviefranchisecough...excuse me). PLAYOFF SCENARIOS!!! The Dallas win over Utah tonight was HUGE for the Rockets tonight. If you ever want to be sick to your stomach, watch Utah play ANY other team in the NBA. They look painfully average. Then you watch them play the Rockets...it is like we jumped into the Rabbit Hole with Alice...nothing is making sense. The same team that gets blown out by 29 against the Dallas Mark Cubans OWNS us. It is a matchup nightmare that I am sure has been discussed in these forums ad nauseum...but I am new, so I dont know. But enough of that, back to SCENARIOS! Dallas mavericked the Jazz tonigt pretty hard which is great for the Rockets in a few ways: 1) Utah falls a full game back of the 6 seed. Good news for us because it looks like we might land the 3 seed. 2) We can feel better about pulling for a Utah win on Friday against the San Antonio Injured Reserves because it has less of a chance of meaning Utah climbing to the 6 seed. I mentioned this in another thread but I think it warrants repeating. Is anyone else horrified of next week??? We play NO and Dallas. I am zero scared of either of those teams...but I am mortified that wins in those games may mean vaulting Utah to a 6 seed. As much as I would love to beat them in a series (and honestly at this point my hatred for them and their fans is so deep that I may prefer a 1st round win over Utah to a championship) we need to avoid them like the plague. Landing the 3 seed needs to be the Rockets primary agenda and the primary hope for Rockets fans everywhere. It gives the Lakers 2 whole rounds to tear a Kobe Bryant ACL or retear a Bynum MCL (oh yeah, he is playing this week...crap) or at least convince Pau Gasol to shave and stop looking so homeless. Are there families of rodents living in his hair? Cuz to me it looks like a place rodents might live. The second hope for every Rockets fan needs to be Utah slipping to 8. This is good because there is no way they are beating the Lakers in a series AND it puts the Lakers in a battle with one of the most physical teams in the league. Having Matt Harpring on the court increases the chance of a broken bone occuring at any given point by 75%...that is one of Daryl Morey's stats...for real...ok not for real. This begs the question...who the heck do we root for on Friday night; Jazz or Spurs? Spurs win...maybe we dont get the 3 seed...spurs lose...maybe we get the 3 seed...and play Utah. And from there; At what point is semi-on-purpose-losing a bad thing? I know this is morally-reprehensible-taboo-1917-Chicago-Whitesox business...but if losing to NO or Dal on purpose keeps Utah in the 8 seed and we can retain the 3 seed... The lighter side of losing those games on purpose is that should we decide to go ahead and tank those games, the fans will be treated to a healthy dose of Chuck Wagon free throws (ask me about my view on this sometime) and James White's Turbo impression (ask me about James White sometime). RocketDoc