If Spurs are 2nd seed then Seattle is automatically 3rd seed even if Mavs have a better record. The winners of each division make up the 1st through 3rd seeds. So unless Mavs pass up SA the best they can be is the 4th seed.
Exactly. Play as well as you can all the time and see what happens. Congrats to the Rockets on moving into fifth place in the very difficult Western Conference. But keep in mind, we only have a 3 game lead over the 8th place team. Suddenly it dawns on me why JVG is hard charging all the time. A two or three game lapsae by us or any of teams four through 8 could really reshuffle the playoff order.
May as well mention it now. Rox are now fifth (on pct points) after the Kings got clobbered in Detroit. The Pistons were firing on all cylinders (HEH HEH) in the 3rd quarter despite not having any point guards available. We will be up 1/2 game after closing out the Blazers. Face it folks: We will end up the 5th seed and play the Mavericks in the 1st round. Let's hope they cool down a bit before the playoffs. I've changed my mind and agree we would be better off avoiding the Mavs and playing the Sonics, but it won't happen. What scares me is Avery Johnson actually has them playing hard on defense. If they keep the defense up and get Dampier and Stackhouse back, the Mavs are serious championship contenders IMO.
Folks, the Rockets and Mavs will be the first round matchup. And frankly, who cares. The best teams do not care what lies in front of them. I'm not sure who will win the series as of yet, but I really like the Rockets chances because they play D and allas does not. Dallas beat the Rockets twice this year. In both wins, JJ, Mo Taylor and Barrett got serious game minutes. And Reese Gaines was still on the team as well. This new Rockets team is 2-0 against the Mavs, althought the last W doesn't stand for much.
Obviously you haven't been following Dallas since Avery took over. They are playing serious defense right now like never before. This isn't the same old predictable Mavs. Another key is getting Dampier and Stackhouse back. Dampier puts out for Avery and obviously Stackhouse is a very dangerous man off the bench. I doubt it. The Kings just beat Dallas last week. They are 0-3 against Seattle. Their problem is Bibby hasn't been playing well (excepting tonight), they live and die by Cuttino's outside shot and Peja continues to be Mr. non-Clutch. There is no other player in the NBA who shrinks from his abilities more when the game is on the line than Peja.
It seems that Avery has got Dallas to play D now. That's scary. The only advantage Rockets have now is playoff coaching experience. The bottom line? No team can be taken lightly in playoff. People say Rockets is better off with Seattle. But the two games they played this season were both decided by the last few shots, ie. each game could have gone to oher way. So, if Rockets want to go deep into the playoff, not just the 2nd round, they should really not worry about who they will play the 1st round.
recall also in the first game houston lost where dirk and t-mac had a shootout, mcgrady missed a ft at the end which would have won it and dirk got away with a travel,double dribble and a charge all on one play that resulted in yao's sixth foul and 2 more points for the mavs. outside of the one total blowout loss in mid december (after the comeback) the rockets have been very competitive against the mavs this year.
Dallas with Avery will be scary come playoffs. He benched Dirk for missing a defensive assignment! Albeit it was only for 40 seconds but still!
Please bring me either Dallas or Seattle. Both teams are afraid of playing against us more than we are afraid of them.
How will we defend Finley, Dirk and Van Horn? Rockets are going to have to do a lot more than rely on T-Mac like the last time they watched T-Mac and Dirk go at it and we lost.
And then the time after that when the ROCKETS BEAT the MAVS on the road....... in fact they KILLED THEM. It's true, I believe all teams out there are dreading a first round matchup against the Rockets. The Rockets have proven to be a very good and TOUGH team to beat. Just forget the fact that you're a Rockets fan for a second and let's be Objective and understand the fact that the ROCKETS are a very good ballclub right now and if they don't go far into the playoffs it's because of themselves. I have league pass in Austin and tonight, the Portland commentators even said I quote "NO ONE wants to play Houston in the first round" I totally agree with them....
I don't know why you all are so scared. The Rockets are a very good ball club right now and you've got to give credit to JVG for making the adjustments over the season to make it work. The only reason the ROCKETS are NOT hailed as favorites (I prefer the underdog status anyways) is because they didn't come out of the gates Blazing at the beginning of the season like sonics and suns did. Aside from the Spurs right now, I OBJECTIVELY think the ROCKETS are the second best team in the league (yes, even ahead of the HEAT if you factor in what the rockets can do on DEFENSE).
