It looks like we're playing SA, MIN, or MEM in the first round..

These three teams are only seperated by 2 1/2 games and if we beat Minnesota tonight and San Antonio beats cleveland, then SA is only a half game back from Minnesota. Memphis has been on a tear winning 8 of their last 10 games. Out of those three SA I think has the easiest schedule not having to play the Lakers, Mavs or Kings anymore. Memphis has two games left against Minnesota and if Memphis sweeps them, then that's 2 games off the lead right there and plus they would have the tiebreaker. They already have the tiebreaker aginst San Antonio having taken 3 out of 4 from them. If all of these teams have the same record at the end of the season, then I think Memphis takes the divison in a three-way tie, but I think the Spurs will take it at the end and we'll probably have to face them.


Anyway, while Memphis did have the upper-hand on us in the regular season, the playoffs are a whole different animal and it would come down to a slower and half-court pace which would favor us more and have time to focus on the next game against the same team and improves are interior defense against them as well. Plus, Memphis has about the same playoff experience as we do which is hardly anything outside of JW. Memphis also shot pretty good in the last game and even when we were playing pretty good defense on them, it was just their night. The first game in that building we had a 9 or ten point lead in the beginning of the fourth, then we just had a mental lapse and the Grizzlies came back on us and took it at the end. We were playing with them the whole night though and it does give me hope that if Yao has a 20 point game, JJ has a good shooting game, and Francis doesn't get too many midnless turnovers, we have a fair chance at beating this team IF we see them in the first round. That's the opponent I most want to face.

I wouldn't mind facing Minnesota either, and we did beat them 2 out of 3 while blowing them out here in Houston. The key to this matchup is wheater YAO will have his way with KG in the paint, and we have to defend the 3 well because they got some shooters like Wally, Cassell, and Hudson. Basically, we need to have are "A" game in the guard play if we matchup with them. Francis usually has his breakout games aginst them as well.

San Antonio is clearly are worse matchup out of the three. Their post-presence has usually done us in toward the end of the games or a guard hits a timely three-point shot after we usually exhaust ourselves guarding Tim Duncan. They constently managed to out rebound us and we haven't escaped with a win there since 1997 when they were in the lottery.

That being said though, I'll be glad (as will most of us) that they'll see the playoffs this year. We're pretty much locked in the seventh seed having a few games of cushion and tiebreakers over Utah and Portland. It's doubtful that we'll catch Dallas since they play lesser opponents and pretty much the majority of there games are at home, so they'll probably be sixth and face the Lakers in the first round. The modem here for the Rockets is to have fun playing with their teammates and hopefully we build on this moumentum we have from the playoffs to get better from them. I think Memphis is our best chance of getting out of the first round IMO.