Nene is only out for a week right? The Nuggets have had three losses against weaker teams in the past week. Unless Nene stays out longer I don't see that continuing.
The problem with this kind of analysis, as well as Hollinger's Playoff odds one, is just as you mentioned: the Rockets this year have done well against the best teams and laid eggs against the worst. Why is this? I point the finger squarely at T-Mac and his lack of effort in those games. I think this trend should switch, and the Rockets should elevate their level of play against all teams for the remaining amount of time left. No seed besides 1 is out of reach at this point. If I were the Rockets I would be glad we have so many opportunities to give ourselves wins by giving losses to our primary rivals for playoff seeding. No one scares me like they did last year; almost every team has regressed compared to their previous incarnations with the exception of Denver and Portland, neither of whom improved enough for me to fear them either. So come on Rockets, the 2nd seed is yours for the taking!
I think the Rockets have a good chance to either put on a great run or split the remaining 26 games. They have to hold it together and get better by working together. We've seen some great things happen over the two games. It's great because we beat teams that we are suppose to beat. We tend to not play hard against them. I could see them staying at the 5th seed or moving to the 4th. It just depends.
I would guess 11-8 for toss up games and 5-7 for favored games which gives us a 51-31 record. 5th seed
So the Jazz, currently 8th. 4 games out of the 3rd seed, with 5 teams ahead of them are going to pull off a run that sends them into the 3rd seed? Let me start off by saying, no. The Nuggests have a cake schedule and arent going to fall all the way down to the bottom. The jazz need to stay right where they are, in 8th. Because I would much rather see them playing the Lakers in the 1st round. They have the best chance of beating the Lakers from all the teams in the lower 4. 1.Lakers 2.Spurs 3.Nuggets 4.Rockets 5.Blazers 6.Hornets 7.Mavs 8.JAZZ-send the Lakers away so ROX can beat you in the second round.
I don't know about other teams. I project the Rockets to win 50 to 52 games (according to my calculation of road/home games against good/bad teams). That will probably put us in the 5th or 6th seed, maybe 4th if we are lucky. Well, at least it looks like we are not going to play Utah again in the first round this year.
I don't think 2 is reality...this is the Spurs we are talking about...they could go on a losing streak but they will win before they drop.
As long as we don't play the Lakers, Spurs, or Jazz in the first round. We beat the rest and advance. I don't want to see the Jazz at all. Don't forget about them, they have a boatload of talent and could meet the Lakers in the Finals.
the jazz are starting to play a lot better and remember the seeding rule division winners have to be in the top 4 so they may be the third seed or fourth if they take over the nuggets regardless of what the other teams ahead of them do
