If the playoffs started today which team do you think we will have the best chance of beating? Spurs Thunder Nuggets My pick would have to be against the spurs every meeting it's been a close game I think we match up very well against them.
The basketball Gods have already decided on a Thunder-Rockets 1st round matchup since the day Harden was traded. There's nothing we can do about it. It's destiny.
Thunder. Higher ratings. Media attention is always good, especially for attracting free agents. Plus, we're 0-3 against the Spurs, 0-3 against the Nuggets, and 1-2 against the Thunder this year.
No doubt about it but I think as of now we will have a better chance of beating the spurs the second and third meeting against them it was a close game. Tomorrows game will determine how well we match up against them. But the nuggets are scary good right now with their winning streak that team has just way too much weapons.
I think regardless of who we face, we will end up losing. But If I had to choose I'd rather see Memphis for a puncher's chance of winning
Out of those 3, it would be the nuggets. the spurs and thunder are well-oiled machines that have been playing at a high level for a few years now. i ONLY picked the nuggets because they have the least team chemistry of the 3. they still have a lot of team chemistry, however. their 15 game winning streak isn't helping my argument though. I think you could argue the spurs as well since their key guys are getting old, but aging is overrated sometimes. I wouldn't want to play the thunder because they'll have the best player on the floor and they can practically run their offense with their eyes closed (like the spurs).
The only team I would really like our chances against would be Memphis. But if not them I would say OKC, we most likely wont get out of the 1st round anyway so I just want the most exciting series. Almost every time we play OKC its a close game, games would be so fast paced and high scoring. Plus, the Harden vs his old team aspect would get a lot of attention...
I actually hope the Nuggets' winning streak continues towards the end of the season, and then the Rockets face them. Those streaks are mentally taxing, and most teams tend to go through a rough stretch immediately afterwards. The Nuggets are not the most battle-tested team, so I think our only chance against any of the top 3 teams would be to catch them during a slight mental lapse.
I feel like any of these teams can sweep us if we drop our first home game. I guess I prefer the Nuggets only because they don't have the same championship aspirations and have less experience - so they may be caught off guard. Frankly I see us losing in 5 games to any homecourt team except the Grizzlies (if they happen to creep into a matchup with us).
spurs have always done better in the regular season due to their discipline and team work. but come playoff time their age and relative lack of talent (compared to okc) will make them a better matchup for the rockets. rockets will find it very hard to get the 6th seed. so i don;t see them playing denver or memphis. that said, if they tighten the screws and win the games necessary to get the 6th seed, i wouldn't care who they played in the playoffs because they would have proven to me that they can beat any team. i say this because, in the remaining 13 games the rockets have to go 9-4 to even have the possibility of catching golden state at 47-35. rockets can't lose more than 4 and they have 6/7 tough games remaining (spurs, indiana, memphis, clippers, denver, memphis, lakers). this means rockets have to win all the sub 500 opponents and win at least three or four of the tough games. if they can do that i would not worry which opponent they played first round. they will be ready for anyone!
Spurs > Nuggets > OKC Given the choice, I'll take the team that doesn't play at our pace and hasn't shown an ability to effectively guard us in transition and fast breaks. The Spurs aren't old, but they certainly will have some difficulty if we can impose our ridiculous pace for multiple games. After the Spurs it would be the Nuggets, mainly due to lack of experience vs OKC. Still, Nuggets and OKC are just bad match ups for us. Any team with a very high octane offense that runs a similar pace to ours AND can play defense is a bad match up for us. Memphis > Spurs > Nuggets/Clippers > OKC
