No. The two teams we absolutely do not want to face are the Nuggets and Clippers. We haven't been them ONCE this season because they dominate us in every way possible.
We'd be heavy underdogs in any first round matchup. We could maybe win 1 game, but more than that would be a pleasant surprise. The Grizzlies are the most favorable matchup, especially if Marc Gasol is out. It will be our offense against the defense.
In reality we probably can not beat any of the top 5 teams in playoff series (OKC, SAS, Mem, Clipper, and Denver). But the series is 7 games, so if we have a hot shooting period, and make few defense stop along the way (or they have 1 or 2 bad shooting night), we may be able to win 1 series no matter how small the chances are. Since the trade, we are no longer just play on high pace to see if we can break opp. And we are a little bit start to gel on defense as a team. There are still 12 games to horn the team, don't see any team is any different for us at this moment.
I think may make it close. People are talking about their athleticism and players, but I would be more worried about George Karl vs. Mchale. That would be the matchup that will hurt us the in that series.
The only Western Conference Top 5 team we have a legit shot to win a 7 game series against is Memphis, especially with Gasol being hurt
Bad matchup. They play the same game, but are a lil better at it and have more bullets in the chamber.
The Nuggets are basically a carbon copy of us, except they run the system better than we do. Where Harden is transcendent offensively, the same could be said for Iggy's defense. Across the board, both teams have talented players with high motors (Parsons, Faried, Asik, McGee). I have a feeling it would be one of the more entertaining series in the playoffs, with the Nuggets taking it in 6 or 7.
As someone else pointed it out, we are likely to be heavy underdogs regardless of who we are matched up agaisnt. Having said that, I think it's impossible to tell. The Rockets have done so much growing this season that its really hard to tell where they will be as a team when the play-offs start. They are starting to play good defense but I'm still looking for consistency. We may be a year early to expect wins in the play-offs but I'm not counting this team out... especially when they will have the best player on the court if we face Denver.
Just like everyone else says, very unlikely we have a chance to beat anyone other than Memphis. This team is just way to inconsistent at this time. Now fast forward to next year or 2 years with the same roster, we might be talking about a different outcome. Look optimistally, Harden = superstar, Jeremy Lin = Above average pg, Parsons = border line all star, Dmo = Borderline allstar, Asik = double double every night like he already is.
+1, my feelings as well. Memphis has trouble scoring (now with Gay gone), but they are still an awesome team with an awesome defense. I think the Rockets would lose 2-4 to Memphis.
Denver is the worst match-up for this team. Grizz, Clips, Spurs, Thunder, then Nuggets - that's the order of most favorable to least favorable match-up for the Rox. Gonna have to hope that the Clips step it up and get to at least 3rd seed.
