Monroe: Western Wrangling: NBA Playoff Seeds

[duncan228]

Western Wrangling: NBA playoff seeds (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Western_Wrangling_NBA_playoff_seeds.html)
Mike Monroe

As we begin the final six weeks of the regular season, most NBA teams have 19, 20 or 21 games remaining, roughly one-quarter of the 82-game schedule.

In 23 seasons of covering the NBA, I can’t recall a tighter race than the one for playoff seeding in the Western Conference.

The Lakers have turned the race for the No. 1 seed into a runaway, but the seven teams bunched behind the Lakers — sort of like the field behind Secretariat in the great thoroughbred’s Triple Crown races — are separated by only 4 1/2 games.

The Spurs have been second for the past month, but on Saturday morning five teams were within three games.

Here is an inside look at the remaining schedules of the seven teams chasing Kobe Bryant and Co.:

Spurs (41-20)
- Home games: 12
- Home vs. plus-.500: 7
- Road Games: 9
- Road vs. plus-.500: 4
- Back-to-backs: 4
- Lakers factor: Once more, at home.

Nuggets (40-23)
- Home games: 11
- Home vs. Plus-.500: 2
- Road Games: 8
- Road vs. Plus-.500: 5
- Back-to-backs: 4
- Lakers factor: Once more, on road.

Rockets (40-23)
- Home games: 9
- Home vs. Plus-.500: 6
- Road Games: 10
- Road vs. Plus-.500: 7
- Back-to-backs: 3
- Lakers factor: Twice more, home and road.

Hornets (39-22)
- Home games: 9
- Home vs. Plus-.500: 6
- Road Games: 12
- Road vs. Plus-.500: 5
- Back-to-backs: 3
- Lakers factor: No more games

Jazz (39-23)
- Home games: 7
- Home vs. Plus-.500: 2
- Road games: 13
- Road vs. Plus-.500: 10
- Back-to-backs: 6
- Lakers factor: Once more, on road.

Trail Blazers (38-23)
- Home games: 11
- Home vs. Plus-.500: 6
- Road games: 10
- Road vs. Plus-.500: 4
- Back-to-backs: 3
- Lakers factor: Twice more, both at home.

Mavericks (37-25)
- Home games: 10
- Home vs. Plus-.500: 7
- Road games: 10
- Road vs. Plus-.500: 6
- Back-to-backs: 3
- Lakers factor: Once more, on road.

[Spursmania]

This will go down to the wire. Thanks for the post:toast

[TheDarkSide.]

I'd rather play Dallas the first round than Portland.

[Ditty]

from what i see

jazz are going to be the 6th or 7th seed to many road games and jazz cant play the same as the play at home then they play away

nuggets got the most easiest schedule so i claim them as 3rd which is good so we can play them in the second round

rockets got a brutal schedule theyll be 5th

horents will be 4th there schedule is okay about the spurs strenght schedule

mavs not even make it to the playoffs with 13 of the next 20 being playoff teams

trail blazers will be okay but i predict theyll have a good lead over the 8th seed but be struggling to get to the 4th seed and drop a game here and there so i see them being the 7th seed

spurs toughest home games will be boston and lakers

tougest road game at cavs

if we go 2-1 out of those 3 games and beat houston at least one time the next 2 times we face them will be #2 seed and this will really help us if we play the lakers in the WCF espically we mie have the easier road

[Ditty]

I'd rather play Dallas the first round than Portland.

no way

we would beat portland in 5 games they cant win here in san antonio there a horrible road team i bet well beat them games 1 and 2 be a close game 3 but portland will win,close game 4 but we will win,close game 5 but we end up closing the series in 5 games..please give us portland and denver the first 2 rounds

[ducks]

oden would not play he would be hurt

[Ditty]

oden would not play he would be hurt

and then put on aldridge on a healthy tim duncan

aldridge is going to be wishing he would of stayed at texas a couple of years long

[Allanon]

Who said the East was better than the West?

Cavs and Celtics have already clinched playoff spots with a 1/4 of the seaons to go. Orlando will probably clinch next week.

In the West, we probably won't know until the last week. :lol

[Manufan909]

Portland or Dallas would be my wish for the Spurs first opponent. Preferably Dallas so we all can witness the allmighty Oden-Bynum duel.:hat

[MarHill]

no way

we would beat portland in 5 games they cant win here in san antonio there a horrible road team i bet well beat them games 1 and 2 be a close game 3 but portland will win,close game 4 but we will win,close game 5 but we end up closing the series in 5 games..please give us portland and denver the first 2 rounds

Yeah I agree the Spurs would beat Portland in 5 games. But I still rather the Spurs play Dallas first.

Even though, they barely won a tough game on Wed...the Mavs are not the same team as they were in 2006 and I believe the Spurs can beat them in 5 games too.

Remember, the Spurs have already beaten Dallas on their home floor this season. So winning their...is not a huge deal.

Of course, it will be competitive because it's the Mavs!!!

[duncan228]

This seemed to fit here.

A wild West show looms (http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2009/03/08/a_wild_west_show_looms/)
After No. 1, spots are up for grabs
By Marc J. Spears
The Boston Globe

While the Lakers are driving smoothly out in front in the Western Conference, in their rear-view mirror are a lot of teams jockeying wildly for playoff position.

The Lakers entered last night's games with a commanding 8 1/2-game lead over the second-place Spurs. But only 4 1/2 games separated second-seeded San Antonio and eighth-seeded Dallas. The hot-and-cold Suns, who have lost Amar'e Stoudemire (eye) for the season, were in ninth but close enough to get back in the picture.

A year ago, only three games separated the top six teams in the West, while Dallas and Denver outlasted Golden State to get the last two spots.

"The seeding will come down like last year where it was like the last day of the season when it came down to it," Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki said.

After Friday night's win over Minnesota, the Lakers are 50-12 and have a 33-6 mark against the West. At this point, they are likely more worried about having a better record than East powers Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando to ensure home-court advantage if they make it to the Finals. That will keep them from coasting the rest of the regular season.

"They are playing great, plus they have the MVP in Kobe [Bryant] with a lot of shooters around him on the perimeter," Nowitzki said. "They look great.

"Outside of that, it's really wide open. Even the Hornets were really, really great last year and they've lost some games where you say, 'They wouldn't have lost that last year.' "

Unfortunately for Nowitzki and the West, the Hornets are buzzing again and finally beginning to live up to expectations. New Orleans entered last night's game against Oklahoma City with six straight wins and was on the heels of San Antonio and Denver in fifth place in the West. Expect San Antonio, New Orleans, and Houston to fight it out for the coveted high seed that comes with winning the Southwest Division. With Chris Paul leading the way, the Hornets have seemed rejuvenated since a trade of center Tyson Chandler to Oklahoma City was rescinded because of a toe injury.

"We're definitely not peaking, but we're playing a lot better than we were," Paul said. "Ever since I got my big man back, we're 6-0, so I'm glad to have him back and we're doing a good job right now."

Said Hornets forward David West, "I just think we're clicking pretty well at this point. We talked about having a run where we can put together consecutive wins. We're just feeling good about what we're trying to do. I think this is a good time of the year to be doing that."

Another West team to keep an eye on is Utah.

The Jazz have been injury-riddled for most of the season and didn't practice with a full roster until late February. Moreover, starters Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, and Deron Williams didn't appear in a game together until Feb. 23.

But after Friday night's victory over Denver, the Jazz have won 10 straight and soon could overtake the Nuggets and Blazers and grab the lead in the Northwest Division. The Jazz, however, play seven of their next nine (five against the East) on the road; they also play four of their final six games of the season away from Utah against West playoff contenders.

"Every game right now is critical," Boozer said. "I think down the stretch we are trying to move up the ladder a little bit, but at the same time we want to get our team as right as possible so when we get to the playoffs we are hitting our stride, and playing the best basketball we can be playing."

[GSH]

Damn! I put all of that together and was just about to post it, and saw this. Oh well - there are still a few things not mentioned in that article:

All things considered, it looks like the Spurs have the toughest remaining schedule. Denver has the easiest, followed by New Orleans. The good news is that the Spurs have an advantage in the loss column of 2-3 games over the current 3-7 seeds in the West. (The L column becomes more important as the season winds down.) All of the 2-8 seeds have at least 6 remaining games against other 2-8 seed teams. That means that the L columns are going to grow, because somebody has to lose.

The not so good news is that the Spurs don't currently own a head-to-head tiebreaker with any of the 3-7 seeds, except for Utah. They split with Dallas, and need to win a game each against Houston and N.O. just to assure at least a split with those teams. They went 1-2 against Denver, and don't face them again in the regular season.

In addition to the "Laker Factor", it's probably worth considering games with Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando. Denver only has 1 game with L.A., and none with the other 3 teams. The Spurs have games with L.A., Boston, and Cleveland. New Orleans doesn't play any of those 4 teams, but they do have the most games left against the other 2-8 seeds.

The other side of the coin is remaining games against "easy" teams. The Nuggets have more "easy" games than any of the other 2-8 seeded teams. The Spurs really need to take advantage of their games against sub-.500 teams. They do have 3 games remaining against OKC. Maybe the Thunder can help the Spurs run for the playoffs, while the Spurs help their run for the top draft pick.

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