You can't just look at losses because a lot of these teams have to play against each other, so they can't all win out to pass the rockets. However, you are right that it's possible, my mistake. However, any result that puts us lower than 4 is incredibly implausible, requiring an extremely specific set of circumstances where the rockets lose out, all the teams below us win out, except in the games against each other, where all those games have to go in a very specific way. Realistically speaking, the chance of us ending lower than 4 is like 1 in a million. But it's not zero.
It’s an 82 game season. It all evens out. We definitely won some tough/close games that we probably should have lost.
This is my take as well. I won’t be disappointed if we lose in the first round. I’m actually expecting it depending on the matchup and based upon our youth and lack of experience. Besides it keeps the stress low when you don’t have expectations. This season is already a major win no matter what. Getting the young guys playoff experience is invaluable for our future. We were predicted to finish 12th in the west in the preseason. 12th! https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2025_preseason_odds.html
Great post, OP. I would just add: We sucked hard for three years to get these picks. That was long and painful. So let's appreciate the good times our suffering earned us. (silas.gif)
