Sacramento(1)x 51- 21 Minnesota(2)x 49 -23 L.A. Lakers(3) 48 -23 San Antonio(4) 46 -25 Memphis(5) 45- 26 Dallas(6) 44- 27 Houston(7) 41- 29 Denver(8) 38 - 35 man they are only half game behind the wolves and 2.5 behind Kings ...they could possibly take over the 2nd seed or go to first then Kings will drop to 2nd.....grrrrr...man how can the Lakers catch up that fast we have no chance against the lakers and the kings
we're going to lose in the first round no matter who we play. nothing would be better than a playoff battle of Yao/Shaq to teach this team what it needs to do to improve and become a real title-contender. the TV people probably wouldn't mind, either.
division winners automatically get the top 2 playoff seeds. If you want to play the T-Wolves so badly, you should be worried about the Spurs...
I doesn't matter if the Lakers pass up Minny, they will still be the #3 seed. If LA passes up Sac, then Sac becomes the 3 seed and Lakers #1. The only way things will change, is if a) SA passes up Minny (making SA the #2 seed) or b) Minny or SA pass up the Kings (making the Kings the #2 seed). I don't forsee either happening.
No offense to anyone, but who cares who we play? We eventually have to face the best of the best at some point, so might as well be the Lakers. It might be different if we had the monkey on our back about getting out of the first round like the T-Wolves (some of their opponents in the first round were not that tough), but we haven't even been in the playoffs for 4 freakin' years! Let's get in there and have the attitude that they should be concerned about us just as much as the other way around.
yes it's true that we still gonna have to face the best once we get into the playoff...but we have a better chance at the wolves..<--we have a lot of things going for us there..the shadow of not making it pass the first round on the wolves....we match up with them better........we probably be sweep by the lakers ..kings....and spurs.....maybe i'm too much overwhelm and want to make it to the second round...and maybe......somehow ...to the finals? he he he he...hey i can DREAM can I?....didn't the 95 rockets make it to the champs with the 8th seed ? or was it 6? ..anywayz..miracle happens everyday...the rockets are entitle to it too..he he he he
I think that the NBA powers that be would love nothing more than the Rockets to either 1) make it to the sixth seed to play LA OR 2) beat Minny in the first round and play LA in the 2nd maybe the Mavs will keep losing and that last game of the season will be the deciding factor
'95 Rox made it to the Finals as a 6 seed. '99 Knicks made it to the Finals as an 8 seed, but lost to the Spers.
Agree with chievous. The most important thing leading up to the playoffs is to execute consistently as a playoff winner must. We're showing no signs of that. In the playoffs we will have games that are tied with 2 or 3 minutes left. When we get in that situation we must know how to win, and the way to know how to win in that situation is to have won in that situation (and remember how we did so) consistently in the latter games of the regular season. As things stand, we will not have done that, and as a result we will not know what to do, and we will lose.
i think rockets will not get past first round, but they will next year.. and next year, maybe they will become a really serious title-contender. Allez, rockets!
while I might normally accuse this type of talk of bing HOMER-ish I do think that the teams at the top of the West are NOT feeling as secure as the teams at the top of the East. Case in point - our dear heros (the 7th seeded Rox) are closer to home court advantage than out of the playoffs while over in the East - the 10th place team can jump to 6th in one night of action - they seem to be battling for the privlige of being swept in the first round
Damn, I don't want to see Yao having to take on O'neal for at least 4 straight games. It's just too much. I'd love to face the Mavs, but they won't be that high a seed. Among the Lakers, Spurs, King, and Wolves, here's my prefference: Minny San Antonio Lakers Kings I really doubt we'll beat any of them though. Spree and Sam freak me out, while the Spurs are just too rigid to budge. The good thing about San Antonio is that, Pop won't let Duncan straight up, so Yao will be able to have his way. If things change, then MoT will have his way with Nesterovic.
A more telling stat, IMO, is that we have beaten the lakers and wolves soundly, and have shown we can hang with the spurs and mavs. I Likewise, if it were not for a late collapse, we had sacto's number also...
Of course no one will ever see us moving out of #7 to #6, as a possibility and hence can still play the wolves if they drop to #3. For what it is worth, I believe LA is going to catch Sac for the conference lead, based on Sac's injuries, their lack of defense and a tougher schedule. They do have a full Texas trip still. Wolves are very vunerable and could lose more than four games if they do not improve their recent play. Given the organization's historical response to pressure, we should keep an eye on them. So Spurs with an easier schedule and as an experienced team should end up in the #2 spot leaving Minnesota at #4. Finally #5,#6 and #7 could go down to the last game of the season. Houston has the tougher schedule but they may not have peaked yet. Questions remain about Dallas.
My opinion.....I don't want to see the Mavs in any round in the playoffs, we just don't match up with them. (may get my wish because they are sucking it up right now) To tell you the truth, I don't think that any of the top 4 four teams want a first round match up with the Rox. We all know that the Rox are 5 to 6 games better than what our record suggest. I'm thinking in a 7 game series, Jeff and the Rox might figure out one of those teams and find a way to win. We certainly have the personnel to beat these team, but experience is not on our side. This team needs to grow up and play consistent every night. Talent is not the Rockets problem....it's our will to win at any cost. The Lakers, Wolves, Kings and Spurs all know this about the Rox and when the light finally comes on with Houston, we'll be contending again.
