You have to understand that they are playing for the future .... Risking Davis health for a few more W's in a lost season may be highly detrimental to the franchises long term. Shutting him down and making sure he is 100% healthy at the start of next season when they have reasonable playoff hopes is the most prudent course. Sure it sucks for them to help another team by losing and improving that draft pick (its not going to move the needle much) but risking Davis just aint worth it.
i think houston could beat portland. but if they play them again and lose by a small dramatic margin (getting swept would kill me to) would be the freakin worst. uggghhh
I want a rematch of last year's 1st round playoffs. I think last year's Rockets could have beaten the Blazers, if not for that, uhm, game 6. But, we should have Dwert in the playoffs. Otherwise, I want the Mavs. On the other hand, if the Blazers beat us again, that would be embarrassing.
Doesn't matter who we face in the first round, without a healthy Howard we are likely toast. The West is the land of giants and we don't have one. On the other hand, the second season can be unpredictable. Who is hot and who is not matters. Who is healthy and who is not matters. Luck matters. One bounce of the ball can advance you or exit you. That is why this stuff is fun.
No Dwight Howard and six of eight games against playoff teams: The Rockets' basket maker will win or lose the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award in the next two weeks. It's officially official: James Harden is a verified, bonafide, beard-sporting, high-stepping skinny jean-wearing MVP candidate. And he will win or lose the MVP award in the next two weeks. From stat-geeks reporting on Harden's three point assist rate to the cover of Sports Illustrated, James Harden is making his pitch to be the first Rocket to hoist the MVP award since Hakeem Olajuwon. The next two weeks will be the most crucial in Harden's pitch for two reasons: The absence of Dwight Howard and the brutal schedule. No Dwight Howard: The timetable for Dwight Howard's return isn't entirely clear yet. The current prognosis is Howard will miss six to eight weeks since his knee injection in February. The max-contract big man who drug the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals shares not only the court, but also the fame and the credit with Harden. Without Howard on the court the credit can only go to one man, James Harden. On this article the comment section may exist solely to debate how much of the credit Howard deserves for the Rockets' success. His absence off the court has put Harden's abilities to distribute, create his own shot and yes, play defense, on display. Over the next two weeks the load Harden carries each day will be on full display. A brutal schedule without Harden and a reformed Rockets roster will make Harden the star and the glue as a new look team attempts to push toward the playoffs. As a light reminder. Harden is the Rockets' only All-Star. Curry takes the floor with Klay Thompson and quiet All-Star candidate Draymond Green. The Schedule: Beginning with Friday's game against the Dallas Mavericks Harden and the Rockets started a two week stretch of eight games. Six of those contests are against playoff teams with a combined 261 - 178 record. That's an astounding nearly unbelievable win percentage of .681%. This is a brutal two weeks putting the Western-Eastern Conference disparity on full display. The Rockets sit in third place in the Western Conference standings and over these two weeks they don't appear poised to improve their position, but could most certainly fall behind. Harden's ability to lead the Rockets and hold the line at third place could very well determine if he wins the MVP award.
If the Rockets have home court against the Mavs and still can't advance to the second round, I would hope Les demands some significant changes.
What else can be done? Fire McHale? Trade Andy Dalton? In the end all we can do is position ourselves as best as possible in the regular season for postseason success. Consistently having a high seed going into the playoffs is a predictor for moving far into the playoffs; not even the Spurs can do it every year. Matchups are such a big deal in the NBA, and sometimes luck forces your hand. Last year, I think we would have advanced in the first round had we faced Dallas, Golden State, or Memphis. The other four were OKC, San Antonio (who we actually match up really well against, hence the season sweep last year), the Clippers, and Portland. What can you do? The matchup dictates the outcome oftentimes.
I get what you're saying and yes matchups are important but Don't forget how important adjustments are in the playoffs. Last year against the Blazers mchale proved just how incompetent he is at making the necessary adjustments. I think if we lose in the first round again you would have to replace mchale. Our roster is pretty set, yes we could use more pg help, but it's still a very talented team with DWIGHT healthy.
No. Remember in the playoffs the winner of the 1 vs 8 matchup plays the winner of the 4 vs 5. 2 vs 7 winner plays the 3 vs 6 winner. So in the scenario I posted if we beat Dallas we would play the winner of Memphis/San Antonio in round 2. We wouldn't see GSW/LAC/OKC/POR until the conference finals.
Rockets remaining schedule and projection: Spoiler Pistons @ Nuggets -------- (W) @ Trail Blazers @ Jazz -------- (W) @ Clippers Magic -------- (W) Nuggets -------- (W) Suns -------- (W) @ Pacers -------- (W) @ Pelicans -------- (W) Timberwolves -------- (W) @ Wizards @ Raptors -------- (W) Kings -------- (W) @ Mavericks @ Thunder @ Spurs Spurs -------- (W) Pelicans -------- (W) @ Hornets -------- (W) Jazz -------- (W) 12 Away, 9 Home I tried to judge the games according to who was favored. It is kind of hard to judge the Wizards and Raptors games because they are both playing so badly, so i assumed we would be projected to split those games, but it is possible we would be favored to either win or lose both. So simply judging by favored/not favored the Rockets seem projected to go 14-7 over their last 21 games. This would put their record at 55-27. If you apply the Rockets current winning percentage to the remaining 21 games (.672), they would be expected to win 14 games as well (14.112 games). It is important to note however that according to the OP's link, the Rockets remaining schedule is easier than their previous schedule. Favored/Not Favored based: 14-7 Finish: 55-27 Win % based: 14-7 Finish: 55-27 I followed this same approach for the rest of these teams. Grizzlies: Spoiler Lakers -------- (W) @ Pelicans -------- (W) @ Bulls -------- (W) @ Celtics -------- (W) @ Wizards -------- (W) Bucks -------- (W) Nuggets -------- (W) @ Pistons -------- (W) @ Mavericks Trail Blazers -------- (W) @ Knicks -------- (W) Cavaliers -------- (W) Warriors @Spurs Kings -------- (W) Thunder -------- (W) Wizards -------- (W) Pelicans -------- (W) @ Jazz -------- (W) @ Clippers @ Warriors Pacers -------- (W) Favored/Not Favored based: 17-5 Finish: 60-22 Win % based: 16-6 Finish: 59-23 Clippers: Spoiler @ Warriors Timberwolves -------- (W) @ Thunder @ Mavericks Rockets -------- (W) Hornets -------- (W) @ Kings -------- (W) Wizards -------- (W) Pelicans -------- (W) @ Knicks -------- (W) @ 76ers -------- (W) @ Celtics -------- (W) Warriors @ Trail Blazers @ Nuggets -------- (W) @ Lakers -------- (W) Lakers -------- (W) Grizzlies -------- (W) Nuggets -------- (W) @ Suns -------- (W) Favored/Not Favored based: 15-5 Finish: 55-27 Win % based: 13-7 Finish: 53-29 Trail Blazers: Spoiler @ Timberwolves -------- (W) Rockets -------- (W) Pistons -------- (W) @ Raptors -------- (W) @ Wizards @ Heat -------- (W) @ Magic -------- (W) @ Grizzlies Warriors @ Jazz -------- (W) @ Suns -------- (W) Nuggets -------- (W) Suns -------- (W) Clippers -------- (W) @ Lakers -------- (W) Pelicans -------- (W) @ Nets -------- (W) Timberwolves -------- (W) @ Warriors Jazz -------- (W) @ Thunder @ Mavericks Favored/Not Favored based: 16-6 Finish: 57-25 Win % based: 15-7 Finish: 56-26 Mavericks: Spoiler @ Warriors @ Lakers -------- (W) Cavaliers -------- (W) Clippers -------- (W) Thunder -------- (W) Magic -------- (W) Grizzlies -------- (W) @ Suns -------- (W) Spurs -------- (W) @ Spurs @ Pacers -------- (W) @ Thunder Rockets -------- (W) Warriors Suns -------- (W) @ Nuggets -------- (W) @ Lakers -------- (W) @ Jazz -------- (W) Trail Blazers -------- (W) Favored/Not Favored based: 15-4 Finish: 55-27 Win % based: 12-7 Finish: 52-30 Results: Win % based: Spoiler Grizzlies: 59-23 Trail Blazers: 56-26 Rockets: 55-27 Clippers: 53-29 Mavericks: 52-30 Favored/Not Favored based: Spoiler Grizzlies: 60-22 Trail Blazers: 57-25 Rockets: 55-27 Clippers: 55-27 Mavericks: 55-27 Those games against the Mavericks, Clippers, and Trail Blazers are going to be huge. I can't wait.
Madano, What, are the Jizzlies nigh on invincible? W W W W W W.... Is Mauer gonna ref all those games for them? Also might want to re-think the Blazers. Afflalo won't replace Matthews entirely (although McCollum will get some burn and he's pretty good).
No, I don't think the Grizzlies will win every single one of those games. But I think it is likely that they will be favored to win those games.
Madano, You forgot the Pistons win tonight. Also, we will beat the Wiz, and I also think we sweep the B2B with the Spurs.. AND, we will be riding a 9-game winning streak when we go back to the Mavs, and we steal THAT one as well. So, that's a change of 3 games both ways. Also, as stated above, don't just give Portland a W either, they will be reeling after Matthews is done for the year - he is their only real defender against Harden. Anyway, looks to me like 17-4 the rest of the way, possibly 18-3 if we sneak out of Portland with a W. Yeah, I'm an optimist. :grin:
