Will the Rockets intentionally lose games for playoff positioning?

We’re going to beat the Warriors and finally burn this scar out.

 

So they are intentionally losing games not to be Numero Uno.

 

Things are way too tight to be thinking about that right now. Just win. The end of season schedule is going to be brutal.

 

No way would this be brought up anywhere near this team. No match up is ideal and HCA is important. Lol at thread title "intentionally losing"

 

Memphis or the Clippers would be favorable.

 

Exactly. We have a few more weak games on the schedule that we have to win. It is very touch and go that we don’t end with a top 6 seed. We are only going to be favored in 7 of our last 15 games and will be underdogs in our last 5. Some of the games we will be favored in are road games that will be iffy.

 

Yes but it's not too late to flag for Tank.

 

That's funny. No we're not that team that should f*ck around and find out what happens. We're the team that should do things the right way and take notes for summer acquisitions and next season. If we get crushed by an excellent team that's just as important

We don't have anywhere near the control and experience needed to be gaming seeds and almost every team that's ever done it has gotten embarrassed. If we can win enough to secure a high enough seed, momentum and rest are clearly more important things to successful teams.

 

The rockets' strengths are perimeter defense, rebounding, and post scoring (Sengun). So, any team that we can't use those strengths on will be a matchup problem. Perimeter defense doesn't matter when guys like SGA/Luka/Steph/Ant can just make any shot over you. It would be nice to avoid those teams.

But, I think the standings will be packed too tightly down the stretch to know for sure who you're avoiding and who you will be matched up with. So, I don't think you could do it if you wanted to.

Also, I don't really think it matters. I don't think it's a big difference if they squeeze out a playoff series against the perfect matchup and lose convincingly in the next round vs fighting hard and losing in the 1st round.

The most important thing for these playoffs is figuring out who will rise to the occasion and who wilts. Who are the guys you are willing part ways with in the summer? Is there someone on the team that has another gear they can go to?

 

Udoka won't let them lose games on purpose
"We need to play HARDER"
"We played soft"
Lol

 

I am fine playing literally any team other than the warriors. I could not take losing to the warriors. Not only are they by far my most hated team in the league, but I've also always hated Jimmy Butler. So now that they've traded for him they have made it worse, which I didn't think was possible. Please god, give us anyone but the warriors.

 

I don’t want the Lakers cause the league and ref will help push them through

 

No we're not. They have owned us for a whole decade. How many years did we "want the Warriors" or think "they are not even that good" and they still beat us. You would think fans would learn by now.

 

There isn't a team that should worry the Rockets. Especially not the ****ing Warriors.

 

GSW is going to win the West if they don’t have any injuries. Refs will make sure.

 

you're probably right, but i'd love it if this young team made its bones going right through gs.

 

For this group, it's about playoff experience, growth, and seeing how far we can go. Eventually, you have to face the adversity or demons to grow. I would like the best matchup agreed, but if we had a bad matchup, I'd rather face them and learn with a 22-year-old core vs an aging team like GSW and grow.

 

I think you’d only do this if it comes down to the last game and you can lose it to get a clearly more favorable matchup. You can’t really do that over a long stretch. They need to be playing to win every night.

 

Negative. The league would prefer the Lakers to win the West...LeBron/Luka vs Cavs NBA Finals will drive the TV ratings up!

 

Thanks, I'm in agreement here...