Good news: Jazz lost Bad news: Jazz purposefully did it so they could draw Rockets again in the 1st round They are salivating with the thought of drawing Rockets in the 1st round and destroying us as always.
yeah they lost 3 in row on purpose just to draw the rockets only the lakers have clinched so i dont think teams are losing on purpose this season
The Jazz are the worst road team of the Western Conference playoff teams. I don't believe anybody tanks, but it would be straight up r****ded if the Jazz intentionally tried to piss away HC advantage. The odds of them winning in the first round are greater if they have HC vs. any lower seed than they are if they are a lower seed and they face the Rockets.
They did it last year. Lost by 20 something in the last game of the year, so they could be the 5 seed, even though it meant giving up HCA in the first round. They know they got us, regardless where the game is played.
<B> Games H2H Div Con Overall Magic </B> <B> Team W/L L10 H2H Left TB Div TB Conf TB TieBreak Number Diff</B> 1 Lakers 53-13 7-3 0-3 1A L 36-7 L No*<B> 27</B> 2 Spurs 44-21 6-4 1-2 1A L 9-4 L 28-11 L No<B> 19</B> 3 Rockets 43-25 6-4 6-6 27-13 4 Nuggets 42-25 5-5 3-1 None W 26-14 W Yes*<B> 14</B> 5 Hornets 41-24 8-2 1-1 1H,1A T 6-3 L 23-14 W No<B> 16</B> 6 Blazers 41-25 6-4 1-1 1H T 21-19 W Yes<B> 15</B> (-1) 7 Jazz 41-26 7-3 2-1 1A W 28-11 L Yes<B> 14</B> (-1) 8 Mavericks 40-27 6-4 2-1 1A W 5-7 W 22-20 W Yes<B> 13</B> (-1) 9 Suns 36-31 4-6 2-0 1A W 22-17 W Yes*<B> 8</B> * Indicates the Tie Break is final For more information on the Magic Number Chart or about seeding or tie break rules, read the FAQ <B>Clinched the #9 seed</B> Here is the latest batch of Magic Numbers after all games were played on <B>March 15</B>. The Rockets were off, but they had a pretty awesome day. I called for upsets across the board, and I was 75% right. It is clear now that Utah has mighty big problems playing good teams on the road. That 12 game winning streak seems like ancient history as the Jazz dropped yet another game, this time in Orlando. It’s the third straight loss for the Jazz, who still have a whopping 6 road games left against Contenders. Dwight Howard had a monster game with 28 points and 20 rebounds, and Skip to my Lou had 16 points, 6 assists, and a +23 point differential. Carlos Boozer had 23 points and 13 points for the Jazz, who drop a Magic Number and a full game back of Enver for the division lead. I give the Nuggets an awful hard time about their woeful defense, and some have questioned why the Warriors don’t merit the same treatment. I always felt the Warriors didn’t care about D so why bother penalizing them, but after tonight I can’t let it stand. The GolXen State Warriors gave up a staggering 154 points in an insanely high-scoring blowout loss to the Suns. I really thought GolXen State would run the Suns off the floor, but Phoenix proved they are the master of full tilt basketball. The box score barely fit on my 19 inch monitor. Jason Richardson had 31 points, Shaq had 26, and Steve Nash had 11 points but only 9 assists. I guess no passes were necessary since GolXen State gave up layups all night. Monta Ellis put up 26 points in the loss, which eliminates GolXen State from Playoff contention. We’re now down to a board of 9. The Hawks really seemed like they had fallen apart, but they have certainly gotten their act back together. Atlanta is fighting for home court in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, and in the last week they’ve taken down the visiting Hornets and Jazz. You can chalk up another Contender victory, as the Hawks rolled to a solid victory over the Blazers, their fifth straight win. Joe Johnson has been on a roll, and he continued to have a hot hand, dropping 25 points. Josh Smith added 19 points and 8 rebounds. Brandon Roy had 29 points for the Blazers, who lose a Magic Number and fall to the #6 spot. I’m glad the Lakers are back with the program. The Mavericks played them tough in LA, but Kobe and Crew put on a late 12-0 run to finish off the Mavs. The Lakers are now tied with Cleveland for the NBA’s best record. Kobe had 28 points, Travor Ariza had 26, and Pau Gasol added 25 points for the Lakers. Jason Terry had 19 point, and Dirk chipped in with 20 for the Mavs, who lose a Magic Number. Dallas is now just 4 games up on Phoenix for the last Playoff spot. It’s good to remember nights like this when the Rockets lose to Contenders. Plenty of other Western Conference opponents do the exact same, and it helps to keep things in perspective. Another day, another huge game for the Rockets. We travel to New Orleans Monday night to take on the Hornets. If we want to win the tie break over the Hornets, we pretty much have to win this game. It would also give us a division win, which might come in handy against Dallas in a tie break scenario. The Hornets looked terrible in a loss to Chicago, but I’m sure they’ll be fired up for the Rockets. We really need to avoid the mental breakdowns that have plagued us lately. Also on tap for Monday: Spurs at Thieves, Blazers at Grizzlies, Nets at Nuggets
Great work as always Scribo! I predict (with many other fans. And it's really more an opinion than a prediction, only God knows what'll happen in the wild, wild West in the few weeks) that the Rockets will hold on to the 3rd spot in the West. Gotta grab the win tomorrow.
First, technically they were still the #4 seed because they won their division and division winners can't be seeded lower than that. They just didn't have HCA. Key difference is that if they had beaten SA last year, they would have faced the Spurs in the first round as there would have been a 4 way tie and SA would have slipped to the #6 seed. If given the choice of facing the Spurs or Lakers with HC or anybody else without it, they'd probably choose the latter. Of course, having HC against anybody other than the Spurs or Lakers would have been preferable. It wasn't so much about the Jazz trying to face the Rox as it was about them trying to avoid the Spurs. In all likelyhood, they'll not be in a position to face either of those teams in the first round this year so it really comes down to if they feel the need to position themselves to play one of the remaining 5 teams over another and if they're willing to give up HC to do so. This season, in games against the Rox, Hornets, Mavs, Blazers, and Nuggets, they've won every home game and lost every road game. That would seem to suggest that it doesn't matter who they play as long as they have HC. If it came down to facing the Rockets without HC or facing one of the other teams with HC, it makes more sense to opt for the latter. The Jazz are still a crappy road team and need the extra help.
the rockets had a very good weekend, despite the loss to the spurs. i dont think their luck will carry over into monday. spurs and blazers have gimme's, and the nuggets will have it easy at home against the nets with harris possibly playing injured. the rockets must win this game. of course, the hornets are coming off of two losses to eastern teams and should be fired up to get back home and face a rival. i'm not too hopeful about tomorrow's game but the hornets have been playing pretty badly lately so there is a chance.
Our first playoff series win in forever is in the cards as long as we don't play 1 of 3 teams: Lakers, Spurs and Jazz. No worries about having to play LA and SA (in the 1st Round), but the Jazz tanking lately to fall to the 6-7 position is a concern. Pro basketball is all about matchups and as we've seen, Utah thrives against our team. I'd rather start the playoffs on the road vs. Nuggets, Blazers, Hornets or Mavericks than have to play Utah again.
See, I think last year, they realized that the path of least resistance was facing the Rockets in the first round. I mean, look at what Dwight Howard did to them yesterday. They can't hang with a legitimate big man who uses his athleticism. Last year, without Yao, we posed NO threat to them. I understand that they probably didn't want to face the Spurs, even with HCA, but I just find it hard to believe that they would voluntarily give up that extra game's revenue just to not face the Spurs. I feel like they KNEW they were guaranteed to win that series against us, even without HCA. This year is a little different in that there really IS no difference between any of the Western contenders because they face an uphill battle with EVERYONE on the road. But, I still can't help but feel like they probably have supreme confidence that they can take at least one game at Toyota Center if they were to match up with us again in the first round. It makes me sick, but it's probably true.
I see your point, but they are a TERRIBLE road team, so I think HCA is absolutely central to the way they size up a series . .
This season, they have exactly 1 road win over a team with a winning record. And that's Detroit at 33-32 who has the worst home record of any potential playoff team. They're 0-7 on the road against Western Conference playoff teams this season and they're 10-1 against WC playoff teams at home with the lone loss coming against the Spurs. You bet your ass they need HCA.
For the sake of my first post ever, this is absolutely the only thread worth reading on GARM. Great job Scribo! Looking forward to your summary by the end of every game day!
