[Calm Down] Sitting at 0.632 and #2 Seed in the Western Conference!

O goes up, D dipping a little facing the last 5-6 games.

 

Rockets can clinch the 2 seed going 2-3 to finish by beating Lakers and Denver.

 

I think that's correct. The Rockets are 1-1 against both Denver and Lakers. If it's a 3-way tie, Denver will lose out because they are in the same division of OKC. For head to head tiebreakers, the remaining games against the Lakers and Denver may be important.

 

I would imagine this is the last useful data pull for that series since teams are starting to solidify their playoff positioning/tanking this week and you will have only half the league "trying". Interesting to see Cleveland's defense falling off in the last 10 - I wonder if they have already started resting starters as a strategy.

 

Man the Clippers are looking good. They will be tough in the playoffs with Kawhi back

 

Defense is heavily dependent on energy output on that end and even if the Cavs aren't resting starters, the main rotation guys probably aren't putting in the same effort on defense they did to get the number one seed locked up. It's hard to get up and put out that much effort when you know you are secured as the hunger one seed. That decrease in effort is all it takes to go from elite to mid quick on defense.

 

So Milkhair and Silas were right? We just needed to try harder?

...kidding of course - totally agree with you.

 

A lot of it is training up players to have the cardio conditioning actually do what the Cavs and Rockets do on a game in and game out basis when they are playing for something. That's what a lot of tanking teams fail at and get stuck with their player development and just become mid like the Hornets and what was boud to be the Rockets also if Silas stayed. Guys like Green would just put up their points and not care about the other end and be happy to be 25+ ppg scorers in the league and be content. Now guys like Green have a different type of hunger and reason to play.

If LaMelo was brought into the Celtics organization where they have the same philosophy on player development where young players are expected to contribute to winning level defense to get minutes he'd probably be a MVP candidate by now.

Some people don't understand how important it is for Sengun and green specifically to get the conditioning training these two seasons under Ime at the beginning of their careers at these ages to put in the level of effort on defense required to win consistently while being high usage offensive players. This stuff carries for their careers and significantly raises their floors. It harms their scoring efficiency numbers early in their careers but pays off the following seasons.

 

Cleveland is fools gold. Boston is going to dominate the East. Nobody else will be even close.

 

I think the two teams aren't that far apart.

 

This is good news. I want the Nuggets to beat the Warriors tonight.

 

I mean - Boston is a more battle tested and versatile team by far, but I don't think Cleveland is fools gold necessarily but I agree that I would be surprised if Boston(injuries aside) weren't the ones to make it out of the East.

 

They all will be playing. Go GSW

 

I hate having to root for GS for playoff positioning, but I guess I won't be all that upset no matter the outcome of that game. Especially if we beat OKC... Which is not that unlikely. Home game, and OKC has very little left to play for. I'm sure they're proud of their win streak, but with only six games left, it can't be anything historic anyway.

 

I can't do it. I hope GS loses every game.

I also don't care who we draw. The only thing I know about the playoffs is that we will have to beat good teams and there is not one of them out there that wants any part of us in a series.

 

Incidentally, much as I hate to say it, those Warriors are starting to look like the scariest first round opponent outside of Oklahoma right now... I have a feeling no one's scared of us because it's a bunch of these kids' first time in the playoffs. Brooks and FVV seem like solid veteran voices for the playoffs, though, and Green and Sengun don't strike me as scared of the big moments.

 

That was one hell of a win tonight. I was not expecting this one to be a win, let alone a wall-to-wall victory and winning 3 out of 4 quarters without Dillon Brooks. And as an added bonus, the Thieves had their 11 game winning streak snapped and are prevented from hitting 70 wins. How sweet it is! All Magic Numbers drop one.

The other big game of the night saw the Warriors take down the Nuggets. With the Nuggets loss, they drop another number. That’s 3 losses in a row for Denver, who seem to be in a tailspin after their epic double overtime loss to the Wolves.

The Pelicans kept it close for a bit, but the Lakers took care of business and move back into the #3 slot. They do, however, get to face a pair of games in OKC, which will hopefully close them out for the Rockets.

1) OKC Thieves 64-13 (Out of Reach)
2) Rockets 51-27
3) Lakers 47-30 Magic Number (2) (-1)
4) Nuggets 47-31 Magic Number (1) (-2)
5) Warriors 46-31 Magic Number (1) (-1)
6) Grizzlies 45-32 (Hibernated)
7) Clippers 45-32 (Clipped)
8) Wolves 45-32 (Lobotomized)
9) Mavericks 38-40 (Bridled)
10) Kings 37-40 (Deposed)
11) Suns 35-42 (Eclipsed)

 

I should've noted last night that Rockets have clinched home court in the first round. The Warriors or Nuggets could overtake the Rockets, but the best they could hope for would be a 3 way tie at 51-31. If that happens, the Rockets would automatically win the tie break as a division winner regardless of head to head. For 2 team tie breaks, head to head is used first then the division winner check.

And a history note that the Rockets are the cause for that division winner tie break being implemented. During the 2007-2008 season (the 22 straight win season), the Rockets nearly finished in a 3 way tie with the Lakers and Hornets for the overall #1 seed. The Hornets would've won the 2 team tie break with the Rockets and been crowned the Southwest division champion. The Lakers would've claimed the Pacific division. The Rockets, by the rules at that time, would've been granted a top 4 seed along with the Northwest division winner. Then they would've been seeded by record, and the Rockets would've won the 3 team tie breaker with the Lakers and Hornets. They would've been the first overall #1 seed that didn't win their division. The division winner tie break was implemented the following season.

 

But what happens if at 51-31, the Warriors also win their division? The Lakers are already sitting at 30 losses and could easily lose 2 more games given their remaining schedule.