Now that Duncan is out is it better for us to hope for the 4th/5th seed rather then the 6th. I personally wanted the 6th seed to face the sonics and then the suns. But now that the spurs will more then likely fall to the 2 seed i say we go all out for that 5th or 4th seed. I think we could take the the Mavs and Suns early on and after such an experience we should be ready to take on the spurs. All in all we should be prepared to face anyone but in terms of matchups i think that this route would get the rockets further into the playoffs. Being a Die hard rockets fan there is nothing that i want more.
Check out the injured list and the walking wounded for the Sonics before committing the Spurs to the 3rd seed. Ray Allen (ankle) Radmanovic (ankle) Antonio Daniels (knee) Fortson (ankle) Rashard Lewis (tendinitis)
Sorry, don't get too greedy, we won't get the 4th, won't even come close, but we have a good shot (although not inevitable) to get the 5th seed if we play flawless basketball the rest of the way. There just isn't enough time for us to overtake the 4th, Dallas would have to absolutely nose-dive for that to happen.
Flawless basketball? We're even with Sacto in the loss column. We only need to play a bit better than they do. Now if they go on a run, we would obviously need to also, but the 5th seed is well within our reach.
Actually with Duncan out, Manu still not 100%, and now Devin Brown out for 10 days, there's a real chance that the Rockets could face the Spurs in the first round. The Mavs are currently 4 games back of the Spurs in the loss column so they have a really good shot at winning the division. That automatically drops the Spurs to 4th, to face the Rockets who would have to be favored over the Kings to wind up 5th. Of course it's still possible for the Rockets to also catch the Spurs, but Duncan would have to miss almost all remaining games, they'd have to lose almost all of them, and the Rockets would have to get even hotter than their recent streaks. That's alot to ask. In fact, given the circumstances, I'd be surprised if the Spurs manage to win the division and avoid the 4 spot.
I think its more likely that the Spurs hold on to win the division and but drop below Seattle and move down to the 3td seed. Suddenly that 6th seed doesnt look as appealing as it did last week (asuming Duncan is back and healthy by playoff time). I am not sure where i want the Rockets to finsh anymore. All I know is that even with Duncan not 100%, I would still rather face te Mavs or the Sonics in round 1.
Well, If the Sonics did not suffer all these injuries recently, then the Spurs would have dropped to 3rd seed, in which case JVG would've take Yao and T-Mac, Sura and Wesley out of the lineup, and started Spoon, Baker, Padgett, Moochie, and a 10-day contract guard from the NBDL so he can tank to 7th seed. Of course, the Grizzilies would not be outdone, and they would announce that Gasol, Swift, Wells, Williams, and Battier had all been injured and would be repaced by the Harlem Globetrotters starting lineup
Have you seen where Swift has missed something like the last 17 games with an ankle, while doctors proclaimed him ready to play about 2 weeks ago? He's getting ripped and accused of faking to avoid further damage to the ankle and, more importantly to him, avoiding any risk to his upcoming free agency.
