Utah would get the 6 seed. In an 3 way tie, you look at record among those teams in their games. Utah beat both teams in the regular season series. I can't recall the numbers, but it's not close. Hornets have the edge on the mav's right now because they've won the first 2 meetings this year. They have 2 left to play, but hornets look like heavy favorites to win a tie break, if there's a three way tie at the end of the season. This is my point, Utah holds the 2 way tie break with either the Hornets and Mavs. Utah holds the 3 way tie break if all three are tied. Utah is very likely to be the 6 seed. The Utah at SA matchup will be huge on Friday night. If Utah wins it, they're probably a lock for the 6th seed. If they lose, they still have a good shot, depending on how badly NO falters intheir remaining 4 games of doom.
I don't really think it matters. If it was tanking from 2nd to 3rd, thats one thing. It almost wouldn't be tanking because you are only giving up home court in the 2nd round. But its 3rd to 4th. We're deciding between a 1st round matchup with Utah and a 2nd round matchup with LA. They are both bad scenerios. The scenario where we avoid Utah, we probably get out of the 1st round, and we have a built in excuse for getting knocked out of the playoffs because we played against LA. So in terms of looking good for the media, thats a good choice. The scenario where we don't tank, we win the division for the 1st time in a decade, and we could potentially make it to the WCF if we beat the Jazz (which we CAN beat the Jazz... every time we play the series goes to at least 6 games). In terms of building momentum, this is the best choice. How awesome would it be to go into the offseason having won the division, beating Utah and Denver and making the WCF? Suddenly Tmac comes back and he has the attitude of "ok, well they don't even need me now, so I have to work into their system rather than them having to build around me", maybe a free agent decides to ring chase with us seeing how far we got without Tmac (maybe a Jason Kidd, or maybe a Shaq). Or even if we don't sign anyone back, imagine how many wins we can get next season without essentially collapsing with chemistry issues due to Artest and Tmac being in and out with injuries.
we must get to the Number 2 spot. we need to pray that denver loses to lakers tonight, as lakers are still chasing HCA throughout the playoffs. then we have to win out the rest of our games. then pray again that portland beats denver, because i'm guessing portland will be battling for HCA/positioning against LAL and SAS as well. denver, lose your 2 tough road games. rockets, win all 4 games. 2nd seed. Utah will probably be 6th seed. ideal scenario.
Scribo, In California, some of us call it Excremento. Really captures the agri-smell of the central valley.
You heard the man, Everyone - Tanking is not an option! If we TCB (take care o'biniss) & win out AND the other games play out like this - http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/playoff...=D015001404514441140104510105550&24=D00411000 , the DAL game becomes HUGE 4us! If we win that game, we solidify HC w/ the #2 seed. But if we lose that game, we lose HC & get the #5 seed. If the best we can be playing for is the 3 seed & UTH is on the other side @ 6, then we go 4 it. If the best we can be playing for is the 2 seed & UTH is on the other side @ 7, then we go 4 it. There's no Tanking in Basketball! [unless your best player has a broken leg & tanking brings you closer to a fundamental phenom out of Wake Forest ].
Don't we have to beat the Jazz to win the Title? I think the only years we beat the Jazz in the playoffs are the years were 94 & 95...
I didn't mean to trigger this spirited discussion on tanking or not tanking. But we'll know a lot more by the end of Friday night: Denver at LA tonight: If Denver wins, it virtually locks up the 2 seed for them. If they lose, the door to No 2 is wide open. LA at Portland: If Portland loses, we get room to lose a game and still preserve HCA if we lose a game b/c we own the head to head tiebreak with Portland. (Translation, we could drop the Dallas game and have home court vs. Portland in a 4 v 5 matchup.) Utah at SA: A loss by SA does not open the door to us losing the Dallas game because if we do so, we would tie SA and they would win the division by virtue of record within the division. A win by SA and loss by Utah, we still control our destiny to get the 3 seed, and makes it more likely that Utah will wind up 7. Cleveland at Philly: a loss by Cleveland puts LA in control of HCA. We want them to have something to play for in the finale at LA versus Utah. ---------------------- This is more fun that NFL mock draft talk.
Take it a step further. We beat NO or Dallas in a 2 v 7 matchup. Denver beats Utah in a 3 v 6 matchup. We beat the hell out of Denver to advance to WCF. Lakers kick the crap out of Dallas/NO in the 1 v 8. Portland beats SA in 4 v 5 matchup. Portland is the best team to take out LA. If they take out LA, we face Portland in the WCF, with HCA, in a dream matchup for us. Under this scenario, we go to the finals. If we face the Cavaliers or Orlando, crown us the champs.
My woman had a year long internship in Sackatomatoes & it does suck there. Man, it's such a dismal place. Guaranteed to be a crutches, wheel chair, or even a gurney (yes! a gurney, it was seen!) on each corner! Everything closed at 8-9pm . . . except the liquor stores. Oh . . . go Rockets! #2 or #3 seed with division title sounds nice.
I really have no idea how this could shake out. A week ago things seemed relatively normal, but it's all been tossed out. Dallas was a lock for #8, but now could rise as high as #6. Utah looked like a lock for #7, but they could go anywhere from #5 - #8. The Hornets seemed pretty set in the #5 or #6 spots, but now they could easily fall to #7 or even #8. The Blazers seemed like they would fall just outside the home court advantage with the #5 or maybe #6 spot. Now they seem like a lock for a top 4 seed and home court in the first round. The Nuggets seemed like they had turned things around and would likely win their division. Now they are the hottest team in basketball, and are almost certain to get the #2 seed. The Spurs seemed like they had just about wrapped up the Southwest and a top 3 seed, but then the bottom fell out. They have looked old, they moved Manu into the starting lineup out of desparation, they lost Manu for the season, and they look ready to plummet. They could fall as far as #6. Those plucky Rockets hung in there after 2 brutal losses to the Suns and Lakers. Now they are poised to get home court and take the Southwest. A perfect run could even see them rise as high as #2. With all the Contender vs Contender matchups this next week, it is impossible to guess how the standings will look when the music stops. In my mind it's folly to think about throwing a game to avoid the Jazz. That is bad Karma, and the Basketball Gods to not look kindly upon it. We need to go all out, grab the division, get a high a seed as we possibly can, and see where the chips fall. Let's try to keep this thread a tank-free zone.
Amen to that. Honestly, I know we match up poorly against the Jazz, but does anyone other than me feel like we could beat them best of 7 this year? I feel like the rockets will end up 4 against the blazers 5 in the first round... which would make me sad because I would much rather get the 3 seed. Go anyone playing the Spurs!
We can beat them, but we have bad matchups against them. But we should try to win as many games as we can down the stretch, no matter what. The objective should be to secure as much homecourt advantage we can. This team plays a lot better at home than it has in previous years.
I too am confident that we can beat them, but I'd rather it not be in the first round for the simple reason that a series with them, especially a long one, will be physically punishing.
Don't know if it's funny or sad... Just read up on the Jazz loss from last night from their local paper (as I often do when the Jazz get pummeled - yes, I do need a life). Anyway, you should read what their fans are saying about their team: blow it up; fire Sloan; pathetic how no one plays defense; the Jazz are a mediocre team. I know they've had a bad stretch and are not a good road team and got destroyed last night, but d@mn!!! I thought our fans were rough after a loss. Fun to read though!!! I don't know if it's funny or sad to see how some of our fans think we should tank games so we don't match up against the dreaded Jazz, while at the same time their fans are screaming about how pathetic their team is and it should be blown up after the coach is fired! Desert News - Jazz(holes) fan comments -Humer
Hmmm, I'm not sure if I agree with you there. Honestly, I feel like the Spurs will, at best, end up going 3-1 over the next 4 and more likely end up going 2-2. The Rockets, on the other hand, will at best go 4-0 and probably end up going 3-1, which would give us the 3 seed (as long as Portland goes the same record as us) and the division title. Right now, I think the Rockets couldn't have asked for a better scenario to be playing out. The Jazz plummeting in the standings, the Spurs looking incredibly vulnerable and shaky, The Hornets looking flat-out bad, and the Mavs making a run at the end to maybe even match-up with us. If I had to guess (which I know is pointless given all the match-ups this week), here are my predictions : 1. Lakers vs. 8. Jazz 2. Nuggets vs. 7. Hornets 3. Rockets vs. 6. Mavs 4. Spurs vs. 5. Blazers (this one could actually be reversed, but I don't know who holds the tie-breaker)
Oh, and for the record, I'm completely on the fence as to whether or not to tank games to make sure we don't see the Jazz in the first round. I am completely against tanking games - I don't think you can turn it on and off, but rather should get into a rhythm and go into the post season strong and clicking! On the other hand, I REALLY don't want to see that d@mn team in the first round again!!! I guess I'll just watch how the standings shape up and hope I won't have to take that call from RA to council him what to do if it comes down to the last game...
Daryl Morey said today the odds of facing Portland and San Antonio in the first round are now virtually the same... 32% chance of facing the Blazers and 30% chance of facing the Spurs.
