I think the Hornets loss drastically increases the odds of them finishing behind Utah. It's very possible that NO could go 1-3 or 0-4 the rest of the way and end up behind or tied with the Jazz in which case the Jazz win the tiebreak. I think the best chance for Utah still finishing 7th is for Dallas to take both games from New Orleans + Minnesota, leapfrogging the Jazz who go 2-2 in their final 4. Under that scenario, the Mavs would be 6th, Utah would be 7th, and the Hornets would drop to 8th. If the Mavs don't go at least 3-1 and the Hornets can't win 2 more games, then the Jazz probably finish #6. And for the Mavs and Hornets to finish that way, the Rockets are going to have to lose to one or the other. And because of that, unless Utah loses to Golden State or the Clippers at home, it's impossible for them to finish 8th if the Rockets beat both the Mavs and Hornets. If New Orleans hasn't taken a game from Dallas when we play, they'll need to beat both us and the Spurs to finish ahead of the Jazz. If Dallas has lost to New Orleans or Minnesota when they play us, they'll need to beat us to finish ahead of Utah. Either Dallas or New Orleans can finish ahead of Utah but it's unlikely that both do.
I'm not sure why everyone thinks that Utah will just go into San Antonio and wipe out the Spurs. The Spurs have played for a good portion of the year without Gino, and they are still not that bad of a team without him - I would definitely claim that they are still better than the Mavs, who have just cleaned the Jazz's clock. And everyone, repeat after me - this. is. the. Jazz. They. suck. balls. on. the. road. I mean, seriously, I fully expect the Jazz to lose in SA when it happens. Not sure why everyone is so confident the Jazz will win in the Alamodome.
Aside from the Yao matchup problem on defense, a big reason we struggle with teams like the Jazz and Suns is that our offense doesn't do enough to take advantage of their defense. Defensively, we are fine. Our offense just isn't up to par with the rest of the playoff teams.
The Spurs may not have enough offense to take advantage of the Jazz. The same problem we often face. The Mavs have plenty of offense. The Spurs could obviously win. Any team can win on any given night. Having said that, I expect the Jazz to win in SA. I expect the Spurs, offensively, to perform a lot like the Rockets down the stretch, i.e., stretches of games where they can't put the ball in the basket.
Yep unless the Jazz are playing in New Orleans or Houston...they suck on the road...just flat out suck.
I don't believe everyone thinks Utah will "wipe out" the Spurs on Friday. But after they wiped out the Hornets on Sunday, anything is possible. If Duncan isn't feeling a lot better than he did tonight, the Spurs have little chance to win. Once they ran out of gas against Portland, the game was over. The Blazers closed the game on a 75-44 run after falling way behind. In fact, if TD isn't feeling better, the Spurs might lose their last 4 games upcoming. IMO, Pop could even decide to rest him until the playoffs because it's doubtful the Spurs will fall to #8. To them, #6 or #7 should be just fine.
We're talking about Utah here. They haven't won a game in San Antonio since 1999. They're not beating the Spurs on Friday. The most likely scenario will have Dallas at the 6 seed, Utah as the 7 seed, and the Hornets end up as the 8 seed. Utah will most likely win both home games, and they'll most likely lose both road games. 2-2 to end the season with a 49-33 record. Dallas will most likely win 3 of their final 4 games giving them a 50-32 record, and the Hornets will most likely go 1-3 over their final 4 games putting them at 49-33 and losing the tie-breaker with Utah. So do we want the 3 seed and face Dallas, or the 4 seed and face either the Spurs or Portland? Either scenario will have us playing Utah or LA in the second round.
Stupid Hornets inability to win when it matters. I suppose best case would be Dallas leap frogging both and finding the 6 spot and Jazz staying put at 7. We will likely get the 3rd seed given schedule and tie-breaker advantage. What I don't like about that is I have little confidence in Denver's ability to beat the Jazz in the playoffs. Meaning even if we avoid them in the first, we will quite likely get them in the second. Stupid Hornets.
That sucks.. I'd rather play Denver, New Orleans, Trailblazers, Dallas. Spurs/Utah/LA is worst matchups for us
The worse thing for the Rockets is that the Trail Blazer win over the Spurs means that they have a track on the #3 seed since they'll be favored to win all their home games (Lakers lost last seven trips there). The Spurs could easily lose to UTA or New Orleans though that just a possibility. We could lose against Dallas after winning against SAC, GS and NO. That would put the Spurs below us at #5. Not only that, the Nuggets and Blazers play each other, so either one winning would put us in a tougher spot to catch the #3 seed despite having tie breakers on both of them. If we lose one more as well as the Spurs (very possible) and the Blazers running the table on their home games, we would be seeded #4 or #5. What that would mean is that we would see the Spurs and then the Lakers. NOT a good combination or route that we want to see. That scenario is looking more likely every day. I feel that we can definitely take the Spurs, but it would be a long grueling series with the Lakers waiting in the wings if we advance.
Manu is out. If Duncan is also hobbling, the Spurs may not pass 1st round. The only time the Spurs with Duncan didnt pass 1st round was the 99-00 season which Duncan sat out the post-season.
heres how i see it, NO split the dallas games, lose to us and beat spurs 2-2 Utah lose to spurs and lakers and win the rest 2-2 mavs split the NO games, beat MIN and lose to us 2-2 so the standings stay the same. tho our game against mavs would be the decider whether utah plays lakers or not. if i was coaching the rockets, i would tank the last game, but im not so
