I didn't want to start a new thread but I think this article from the Denver newspaper is interesting. They think that 42 wins will get them into the playoffs. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nuggets/article/0,1299,DRMN_20_2768592,00.html SHOOTING FOR 42: It worked 10 years ago. How about this year? In 1993-94, the Nuggets went 42-40 and claimed the No. 8 playoff spot in the Western Conference. Then they went on a dramatic playoff run, upsetting top-seeded Seattle in the first round before losing to Utah in the second round in seven games. Now, the Nuggets (38-37) are talking about 42 wins being what it might take to again land the No. 8 playoff spot. That means Denver, which faces Seattle at home tonight, would need to win four of its remaining seven games. "I really think that if we win 42, we're going to get in," guard Jon Barry said. "That forces Utah to win five. They've struggled with their remaining opponents. And Portland has San Antonio and (the Los Angeles Lakers twice). I honestly think 42 gets us in." The Nuggets are one-half game behind the Jazz (38-36) and percentage points behind the Trail Blazers (37-36) for the No. 8 spot. But Denver holds tiebreakers over both teams. If the Nuggets get to 42 wins, Utah must go 5-3 to beat them out. Portland would need to go 6-3. After tonight, the Nuggets have home games left against Houston, Portland and Sacramento and road games at Phoenix, Houston and San Antonio. Title contenders Sacramento and San Antonio are the season's final two games, but it's not out of the question either team could rest starters if it knows its playoff position.
Yeh, but to win 42 games, the Nuggets have to win 4 out of 7 remaining games. They'll play us twice, Spurs twice, Seattle once, Portland once, Kings once. I just don't see how they can get FOUR wins out of those seven games
so all we gotta do is beat denver twice and we're in. i hope we clinch before April 9th, Denver @Houston, but if we don't, I'm going to be in Houston for that game and wouldn't it be sweet to witness the Rockets clinch?
At least show some grit like we did against Minnesota and I'm happy...eventually we will get those gritty wins against those elite teams....need to take baby steps...We showed a lot of heart by coming back to take the lead against Minn...
supposively, magic number goes down = the losses of a specific opponent or a win by the leading team. With 3 teams so close, there's no specific magic number that can be determined for a seed... the best we could do is have 3 separate magic numbers... if 2 of those goes to 0, we're at 8th seed, if all 3 goes to 0, we're at 7th seed. The numbers shown earlier are only correct IF Port/Utah finishes undefeated (as Daoshi might have pointed out), meaning the rockets will have to win specific amount of games in order for them to get a specific seed if those teams indeed win out. For example... if portland loses 4 of their remaining games, that doesn't assure us of a playoff spot because denver/utah can surpass that record. Just in case a weird scenario happens.. here's what i got in terms of "magic numbers" Magic Number vs Utah = 5 Magic Number vs Portland = 4 (since we win head-to-head) Magic Number vs Denver = 4 If Rockets get 2 of those numbers to 0 by end of season.. seed = #8... if all 3, seed = #7 Houston vs Utah head-to-head is now at 2-1... Houston vs Denver is 1-1. At this rate, it looks like both will have better conf records than Rockets. If Houston beats Utah, a tie in record goes in Rockets favor, if Utah wins, then they have tiebreaker. If Rockets sweep last 2 games, they have tie breaker over Denv... and Denver needs 1 of 2 to have tie breaker. That has a dramatic change to the Magic Number system. I'll explain that as the games go between the two teams.
basically a magic number is done when there are 2 teams involved. When there are so many teams out there, the major part of keeping the seed is for the Rockets to win. When someone ... let's say Utah, loses, sure it'll help the Rockets, but someone else might climb ahead of Utah, making THAT our biggest threat. With that said, you can't really determine one magic number that fits the system, only separates ones to determine seeding.
W L Best Finish possible Uta 39 36 46-36 Den 39 37 45-37 Por 38 36 46-36 We hold tie break on Por, a tie break yet to play against Uta. We are 42-31 right now. 46 W should at least put us in the playoff. The magic numer is thus 4. We need to take care of the Warrior, Clip, and Seattle game. Plus, we play dallas the last game, which might rest all their starters. We'll be OoooooooooooooK
The magic number is 4, but not for the reason you suggest. If the Rockets go 4-5 and finish 46-36, and in a 3-way tie for 7th, 1 of the 3 teams won't make the playoffs. The Rockets make the playoffs based on the first criterium of the 3-way tiebreaker rule, not based on a head-to-head tie break over Portland. If that 3-way tie occurs, Utah gets the 7 seed, Rockets the 8, Portland is out.
the rockets website also says 4. Wonder why they got the idea from, are the rockets staff searching clutchcity.net?
Um .... we learned basic math a while back, actually. It's really not a hard thing to calculate, despite how difficult it's been made to seem in some of these posts. (By the way, I grew up in Chicago. Every Cubs fan learns that the magic number on opening day is 163.) Tim
