1: Blazers @ Spurs 2: Suns @ Hornets 3: Jazz @ Mavericks Whatever the outcome, the Rockets should enjoy this. I'm not sure what I want.
Only the Jazz v Mavs game I will watch because I want the Mavs to win so the Jazz end up with 8th seed and face the lakers
i want: Blazers to win. Because we hold the tiebreaker with them, ensuring us home court over them. Plus, if we have the same record as them, and the Spurs win all their other games, we get the Blazers at home during the playoffs. Suns to win. Because I want the Blazers to solidify 5th. Jazz to win. We ALL want Dallas to be 7, and Utah to be 8. Jazz/Lakers? Hell yes. Ideal playoff seedings: 1. Lakers 2. Nuggets 3. Spurs 4. Rockets 5. Trailblazers 6. Hornets 7. Mavericks 8. Jazz Of course, I would rather the Rockets be 3 and the Trailblazers be 6, but it isn't entirely realistic
I pick the home teams. The Blazers were incredibly bad tonight. The Hornets will hold serve against the Suns. I can't remember ever seeing Utah win Dallas.
Blazers @ Spurs is interesting to me. Both teams played pretty tight games tonight but the Blazers are a younger team so I wouldn't expect it to have as much physical impact on them. However, the last time they played the Spurs it was their 4th game in 6 nights and they had traveled cross country (Atlanta to L.A.) and halfway back (Houston, San Antonio). The result was a 15 point loss to a Duncan-less, Ginobili-less Spurs team. This visit will also be a 4th game in 6 nights scenario, but without the extensive travel. Plus you never know when Pop will get a wild hair and rest Duncan. I don't think Duncan will sit, so I'll still take the Spurs here in a tight one, due to home court advantage if nothing else. I think the Hornets will down the Suns. They're at home and they're playing at least as hard for home court as the Suns are for that 8th spot (which they won't get and have probably all admitted to themselves). The Hornets have also handled Phoenix both times they played this season, so that's a good sign for New Orleans. Also, with no Stoudemire, Phoenix can't effectively match up with David West. I'll take New Orleans for sure, but it may be closer than expected because Phoenix will have the fresher legs. Jazz @ Mavericks is an easy call. The Jazz suck on the road and Dallas is 17-2 in their last 19 games at home. That includes a win over Utah. Even gloomier news for the Jazz? They won Sunday at New Orleans, but they haven't won consecutive road games against .500+ teams on the road since December 19th. Ouch.
I'm guessing you meant you want the mavs to win. i agree with that. it really hurt when the mavs lost to the grizzlies this past week. utah handed dallas a gift by losing to minnesota. two teams should already be tied right now... but that's water under the bridge. Ideal playoff seedings: 1. Lakers 2. Nuggets 3. Rockets 4. Spurs 5. Hornets 6. Blazers 7. Mavericks 8. Jazz That would be my ideal scenario. i'd rather be in the bottom half of the bracket, and avoid lakers/jazz until WCF. i think we can take portland and denver/dallas. i think for this to happen, hornets need to win, portland needs to lose, and mavs need to win tonight...
Plus (if I'm not mistaken), the win at NO was the first road victory against a .500+ Western Conference team.
Dallas needs to win so Jazz can be 8th seed and play the Lakers if not 7th seed at the end and play Denver. Portland needs to win so we can become 3rd seed and not have to face the Lakers till WCF and get home court till then.. Suns need to win to asure us of atleast 4th seed..
If the Rockets win their games and Denver looses against the Lakers(away game) and Blazers(away game) we do get the 3rd seed tie breaker over the Nuggets.
I like the Blazers in this one. While the Blazers looked subpar in a loss to Houston and a close win over the Grizz, the Spurs have looked even worse. No Ginobili, Duncan's got a gimpy leg, and Roger Mason is nicked up. The Blazers give themselves a serious shot at homecourt with a win tonight, and I think they will capitalize. I like the Mavs in this game. They're riding a high after destroying the Suns, and we all know the Jazz suck on the road. I'm throwing out that win in New Orleans, becuase the Hornets are a schizo team that can lose to or beat any team on any given night. This is a game the Mavs have to take if they want to move up from #7, which they really want to do. I think the good Hornets team shows up tonight and takes down the Suns. Chris Paul and David West are going to have sensational box scores.
I'm really not that worried about New Orleans catching us. Rockets should easily take the next 2 games vs SAC and GSW. That would give us 52 wins and NO would have to go 4-1, including a win over the Rockets on the 2nd night of a back to back, to pass us. Not going to happen. And if Houston wins @ SAC and @GSW and takes the home game vs. NO (like we should), then the Hornets magic number goes to 0. Actually, if the Rockets beat the Hornets and go 1-2 in the other games we still finish ahead of NO. My point is, the chances aren't very good that the Hornets will catch and pass us. I'd rather think about them in relation to the Jazz. It's in our best interest for the Hornets to win tonight, assuring Utah stays in 7th place. I think the Jazz could legitimately go 3-2 (if LA phones in the last game) or 2-3 (if LA doesn't). That would mean NO would have to go 3-2 to stay ahead of them. I expect them to take one from Dallas and hope they take the last game against the Spurs (see below). To get to 3 wins, they probably need to beat Phoenix tonight. We need NO to beat San Antonio in the final game of the season. That way, if we tie with the Spurs we'll have a shot at the tiebreaker. So there's my rationale for wanting the Hornets to win.
Okay, so I posted what I want to happen above, so I might as well post what I think will happen. Blazers @ Spurs Blazers should pull this one out. The Spurs will be able to stick Bowen on Roy, but they don't generally have Bowen on the floor for too long, so I expect Roy to have a huge game. Travis Outlaw should light up the Spurs as well. Suns @ Hornets While it'd be great for the Suns to win, I don't think they will. That being said, there is some risk here for New Orleans. They don't have Chandler to match up with Shaq, so Shaq will abuse whoever they end up sticking on him. Grant Hill and Jason Richardson will be tough to stop as well. But, when all is said and done, Steve Nash's terrible defense while guarding Chris Paul will be the nail in the Suns' season coffin. Jazz @ Mavericks Mavericks win this one big. They just had a confidence booster while obliterating the Suns in Dallas, and here comes another confidence booster: a Jazz team that sucks on the road. Dallas also has the motivation factor of moving into a tie with Utah for the 7th spot and avoiding the Lakers. So, overall, I want the Blazers/Suns/Mavs to win, but I think the Blazers/Hornets/Mavs will win. Almost a good night, and I'm not really worried about the Hornets anyway.
Lakers shouldn't be phoning in that game.. they're only a game behind the best NBA record and need to win out to have a chance. CLE and LAL are having their own little mini race for the best overall record..
