Right now Rockets tie with Utah at #6. My prediction of the final standings would be: 1. Dallas 2. Sacramento 3. Phoenix 4. San Antonio 5. Portland 6. LA Lakers 7. Houston 8. Minnesota The only difference between now and playoff time would be that Lakers replace Utah at 6. Utah would drop out simply because they don't have enough energy to survive the remaining contests. Dallas and Sac would be the lock for No #1 and #2. Houston would face Sacs in the first round. If Rockets wants to go deep into playoffs, then they need to fight a little bit harder to get #6. Anyway, I would rather we meet Sacs intead of Lakers in the first round. We are on the safe side since Lakers don't have much chance to break into top 4. What do you think?
Everything is good except for the 3 6 and 7 spots. 3. L.A. Lackers 6. Houston Rockets 7. Phoenix Suns First round match up with the Lakers. Rockets gain from this playoff series win or lose. Rockets win in 6 Go Rockets!!
I would rather face Lakers 1st round than Kings. Realistically, although I don't like them, I don't think Utah will drop out. People said they're too old every year but simply they have too much experience down the stretch. I think T-Wolves or us (God no) is more likely.
1. Sacramento 2. Dallas 3. Houston (Yeah I know. I can hope, it will take a lot of improvement. I am sure the Rockets can do it.) 4. San Antonio 5. Phoenix (Marbury and Amare will cool off) 6. Portland (could be a suprise team, climb up a few spots) 7. Minnesota (first round exit, again.) 8. Utah (No chance if they finish 7 or 8) 9. Seattle 10. Lakers (they don't got it this year)
My prediction.... 1) Mavs 2) Kings 3) Spurs 4) Blazers 5) Suns 6) Lakers 7) Rockets 8) Jazz or Wolves 10) Sonics Here's what we need over the balance of the season.... 1) Keep same winning % over East (>75%)..That should give us 22 Ws for the year. 2) Beat the bottom ranked WEST ( Warriers, Clippers, Nuggets, Grizzlies)....end the year with no more than 6 losses ( we already have had four here). Gives us 10 Ws for the year. 3) Get even with rest of WEST in balance games (we are 50-50 now versus the top 9 teams in WEST). We get 20 Ws. 4) Deduct any absurd losses beyond assumtpions above ( 4 L) That will give us about 46-50 W range, which should be good enough to give us the 7th seed. To achieve the above, I assume OUR MOTION offense keeps appearing for longers stretches in the game, and shows up every game. Also no major injury.....as well as Yao not hitting a major rookie wall with Posey playing well enough to earn a pay-check from us come summer.
OK if we're healthy and Sacramento's healthy we'll get blown out in four straight games... But I think we have more trouble with Minnesota or Utah as opposed to Portland/SA/Phoenix. but who knows.
Rockets will barely make it as a 8th seed this year. Just look at their schedule for the rest of the year. very very Tough!!! Another factor that makes it much harder for the rockets is that they can not consistently beat even the sub .500 teams.
1. Dallas 2. Sacramento 3. Phoenix 4. San Antonio 5. Portland 6. Utah 7. Houston 8. L.A. Lakers That first round Dallas - L.A. matchup would be incredible.
The Rockets are playoff-bound, that is for sure. The last team we would want to meet in the first round are 1. Lakers: most unpredictable this season but still the most experienced. I hope this Friday's game proves me wrong 80% to win over Rockets in first round 2. King: they are the deepest team now and with enough playoff experience 70% to win over Rockets in first round 3. Mavs: Rockets have 25% 65% to win over Rockets in first round Rockets should have half-half chance to win over the rest teams. For Lakers to be in #4, they need to win 34 out of the rest 45 games which is quite unlikely. So the best rank for Rockets would be #5 or #6 and we need to win about 28 out of 46 games (61%). That's donable. Go Rockets !!!!!!
1. Kings - the best team in NBA. 2. Mavs - they are very good, but not good enough to top the Kings in the second half of the season. It will be close though. 3. Spurs - perennial top four power. 4. Jail Blazers - I hate them, but they are pretty good. They won't do anything in the playoffs though. 5. Lakers - they are not as bad as the record indicates. In fact, they are still very very good. And they will be the reason the Blazers are going nowhere. 6. Jazz - I know you hate me for this, but I am a Jazz fan also. With their experience, and the energy provided by Harpring and Kirilinko, they will be up there. 7. Rockets - I am just so glad we are in this year, and enough said. 8. Suns - they are rocking now, but I think they will start sliding in toward the end of season and plunge into the playoffs. First Round: Kings over Suns in 3. Mavs over Rockets in 4. Spurs over Jazz in 4. Lakers over Blazers in 3. Second Round: Kings over the Lakers in 4. Mavs over the Spurs in 7. Western Final: Kings over the Mavs in 6. NBA Final: Kings over the Pacers in 5.
Too early and difficult to predict. Have to see how Rockets respond in the next 5 games to be able to say something.
