Chron: Trip around West full of NBA peril

why did you highlight those words?

So the Rockets, in an effort to consider every game equal in importance, are working to ignore the playoff race.
But beginning tonight -- and for the next few weeks -- they will likely fail.

 

"..., man"...

 

Beating Portland would basically guarantee us a playoff spot, and that's all I really care about.

Memphis' next 5 games are difficult.

It starts with beating Portland and guaranteeing playoffs. Then they can focus on taking that 6th seed.

 

Here are the two statements that will determine the fate of their playoff chances:

To make the playoffs, they will have to finish up by playing the majority of their remaining games on the road where:

This has the capacity to get real ugly real fast.

 

This is where the Rockets BETTER make some ground or they are in trouble with the April part of the schedule looming.

 

You highlighted it because I guess you think Feigen is saying that the Rox will "fail" to make the playoffs, no?

I don't think that is the correct reading.

It is pretty clear to me that "fail" is in reference to the Rockets "working to ignore the playoff race" in the previous sentence, which is reinforced by the "Despite their best efforts, the Rockets know how vital . . . " in the next sentence.

Accordingly, he is saying the Rockets won't be able to ignore the playoff picture, rather than will fail to be in that picture.

Those of you worried about Portland, here's there schedule during their recent five game win streak:

Wed 18 LA Clippers Win 101-86 25-28
Fri 20 at Golden State Win 94-93 26-28
Sat 21 Boston Win 105-84 27-28
Mon 23 at Miami Win 89-81 28-28
Tue 24 at Orlando Win (OT) 94-91 29-28

And here is their next 11:

Fri 27 at Houston Tickets KGW 8 8:30 PM
Sat 28 at Dallas Tickets KGW 8 8:30 PM
MARCH OPPONENT TICKETS TV NAT TV TIME (ET)
Wed 3 Memphis Tickets 10:00 PM
Thu 4 Detroit Tickets TNT TNT 10:00 PM
Sat 6 Utah Tickets KGW 8 10:00 PM
Sun 7 at LA Clippers Tickets KGW 8 9:30 PM
Wed 10 Minnesota Tickets NBA TV 10:00 PM
Fri 12 Sacramento Tickets KGW 8 10:00 PM
Sun 14 at Minnesota Tickets 3:30 PM
Tue 16 at Milwaukee Tickets 8:00 PM
Wed 17 at Indiana Tickets ESPN 7:00 PM

Anything short of a .500 performance during that tough stretch basically kills Portland's playoff chances, even if the Rockets play mediocre from here on out.

 

I look forward to watching this Rockets team grow together on the road. I see an opportunity here. We have played so few games on the road at this point in the season, we haven't proven we can win on the road. I think the Rockets will come together in that last leg of the regular season and discover their road game. At least, that's what I hope

 

If there exists no Eastern Conference, Houston Rockets would be the third worst team in the NBA, only slightly better than Clippers and Phoenix.

We have only 3 games left against eastern teams, while Portland has 8, Memphis and Denver have 9. If Portland continues to play at high level, we might actually miss the playoffs again.

My prediction: 43-39 eighth seed.

 

The Rockets are 2-13 on the road against the Western Conference, and all but one of their remaining 12 road games are against Western Conference teams, all of which makes the home games seem more vital. (They go east to play at Milwaukee on March 28.)
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That is pretty damn scary. Oh, fudgecake...

 

Has anyone noticed that all teams ahead of us in the standings have gone 8-2 over their last ten games. That makes it hard if we wanted to (god forbid) move up in the standings. I thought winning 7 out of the last ten would help make up the ground on someone.

 

First, these team don't have as great a record against the East as the Rockets have.

Second, Portland has 6 games left against the East conference, with home game against Pistons and road game against the Pacers. These are not chopped liver. They also play Dallas once on the road, Spurs twice, Lakers twice, Minny twice, Kings once. And they will Houston twice, Denver and Memphis once each. Pretty tough stretch to me.

Dnever is gonna play Spurs twice, Minny twice, Kings once. They will play us twice and Portland once. Among their rest 9 games against the East conference, they are gonna meet Pistons twice, Pacers once, Nets twice. Very very though schedule ahead. They can easily lose 10 out of these 13 games. Assuming that they go 7:3 for the rest of the 10 games, they will end up 42:40 for the season, thus battling either Rockets or Trailblazer for the 8th spot in the West.

Grizzles has the best chance to lock in a 6th seed. But I don't want that seed anyway.

 

That's true.. With more people attending the games, the more motivated they probably will become.. but I don't understand it.. The players don't seem too involved in the community, but they expect a lot of people to attend the games? Don't get me wrong, I've been to several games and plan on going to several more. If the players were more involved, I'm sure more 'regular' fans will attend the games, because they'd feel like they've "connected" with the players and feel closer to them. Of course it depends on the performance of the teams playing, but I feel this is part of the factor in why there's such a small crowd of people attending the games.

 

Olliez, we are in a much, much better position this year as opposed to last year. Our record is much better and the competition is nowhere near as tough. Even with a mediocre finish by the Rockets, an outstanding stretch by the blazers (something like 16-9 over their final 25) is required for them to even get to 45 games. That is just not going to happen.

 

In the article Mobes said, "I don't know, but the more people that help and support us the better we'll play as a team. That's what Sacramento has. You go out there and play, you know you don't have just those five players, you have 20,000 on your backs. That helps us out a lot, too."

Man, if I was still living in Houston, I'd be at as many games as I could, sneak down to the lower section, and yell and cheer my ass off.

Instead, I watch the Rox on League Pass, and every time the lower section looks half empty and the place sounds like a freakin library. It's almost embarrassing.

I say they make the corporate ticket holders tell them if they're going to use their tickets for any given game, and if not, auction or sell them to the public at reduced prices. That would be great extra revenue AND support for the team.

A thunderous and intimidating atmosphere [like Sac/Dallas] makes all the difference in making opponents wet their pants a little and pumping up our own players. All it takes is a couple of plays, one or two baskets, to determine the outcome a game. It's a game of inches, and every little thing counts.

This current 10 game home stand is very very crucial. If I was in still in Houston, I'd be going to these games and I'd drag my friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, cable guy, etc. with me too. You should do the same!!