Portland is playing great basketball. But New Orleans is probably playing the worst of any of the team we have a chance to catch. And they are not playing terrible. The only thing is we have to make up 3 games against them as opposed to only 2 against Memphis plus they own the tiebreaker which means we really need to make up 4 games and they have the least amount of games left to play. Which means they would have to collapse for us to have a chance. I do see a path for that to happen. But that means Memphis has to beat them twice and we beat them once than that's the three games made up and we just need a couple of more losses on their part. New Orleans: 40-31 11 games left @ Utah @ Phoenix LOSS @ LA Lakers LOSS vs Portland LOSS vs Memphis vs Indiana vs Houston LOSS vs Phoenix @ Memphis LOSS vs Utah @ Dallas My preference would be for New Orleans to get hot and beat Memphis. Grizzles: 37-32, 13 games left. Sat 19 vs Indiana Mon 21 vs Utah Wed 23 @ Boston LOSS Fri 25 @ Chicago LOSS Sun 27 vs San Antonio LOSS Wed 30 vs Golden State Fri 01 @ New Orleans LOSS Sat 02 vs Minnesota Tue 05 vs LA Clippers Fri 08 vs Sacramento Sun 10 vs New Orleans Tue 12 @ Portland LOSS Wed 13 @ LA Clippers Realistically we can't lose more than 3 games to have a chance and probably 2 may be our Magic number. The thing is if we somehow squeak I see a path to Western Conference FInals. It won't be easy but the Spurs are slumping a little bit and we have played them tough all year and we are playing better now than ever. OKC in the second round is beatable by us and that leaves us a showdown with the mighty Lakers. With Scola back and Patterson even more ready we will be gellin by then. I think the Lakers will be happy it is us in the Finals but they might be in for a surprise. Okay that is all for not if lose tonight.
ouch, look at Hornets' schedule...10 out of 11 games are against above .500 teams. Probably have better chance to beat out Hornets than Grizzlies.
If SA already has 1st place locked mathematically I could see them playing their starters less and letting other players get more minutes. Same thing goes for Dallas, if they have either claimed the 2 spot or are stuck at 3 I can see the starters playing less minutes. Aside from that the only other team that is significantly better then us is Miami... But you never know what's going to happen with Miami ha. So I Think we have a good shot at making it.
Update: Rockets: 37-34, 11 games left. Wed 23 vs Golden State Sun 27 @ Miami Tue 29 @ New Jersey Wed 30 @ Philadelphia Fri 01 vs San Antonio Sun 03 vs Atlanta Tue 05 vs Sacramento Wed 06 @ New Orleans Sat 09 vs LA Clippers Mon 11 vs Dallas Wed 13 @ Minnesota Grizzles: 38-32, 12 games left. Mon 21 vs Utah Wed 23 @ Boston Fri 25 @ Chicago Sun 27 vs San Antonio Wed 30 vs Golden State Fri 01 @ New Orleans Sat 02 vs Minnesota Tue 05 vs LA Clippers Fri 08 vs Sacramento Sun 10 vs New Orleans Tue 12 @ Portland Wed 13 @ LA Clippers Jazz: 36-34, 12 games left. Mon 21 @ Memphis Wed 23 @ Oklahoma City Thu 24 vs New Orleans Sat 26 vs Dallas Mon 28 vs Washington Fri 01 vs LA Lakers Sun 03 @ Sacramento Tue 05 @ LA Lakers Thu 07 vs Portland Mon 11 @ New Orleans Wed 13 vs Denver Suns: 35-33, 14 games left. Tue 22 @ LA Lakers Wed 23 vs Toronto Fri 25 vs New Orleans Sun 27 vs Dallas Tue 29 @ Sacramento Wed 30 vs Oklahoma City Fri 01 vs LA Clippers Sun 03 @ San Antonio Tue 05 @ Chicago Wed 06 @ Minnesota Fri 08 @ New Orleans Sun 10 @ Dallas Mon 11 vs Minnesota Wed 13 vs San Antonio
From the grizzlies forum....Houston is really starting to scare me. They are technically 1.5 games behind us, but all they need to do is match our record and they have the 8th seed with the tiebreaker. So its really only 1 game. Not to mention that they have one of the easier schedules to finish off the season. We have to win almost everything from here on out.
I think the Miami game is the only nearly guaranteed loss. San Antonio will probably rest it starters and the Dallas game is the second to last, so they too might rest their starters. Rockets 2011 PLAYOFFS baby!
I think we need to go 8-3 the rest of the way. With the 3 losses being Miami, ATL/SA (one of those 2) and then One other game we should probably when down the stretch. Potentially the NO game.
Mostly because of Shane I am rooting for Memphis after the Rockets to get in, but that would have been predicated on New Orleans or Portland collapsing late in the season. Since that isn't happening...whatever, Memphis can miss the playoffs in my book if that's what it takes. Until then, die Portland and NO!
I really think it is highly possible for the Grizz to lose their next 4 games. Oh wait, maybe not Boston.
