Are the playoffs falling into place?

[dbestpro]

I know its early, but It seems out west that the playoffs at least for the first four seeds are falling into place. San Antonio seems destined to obtain the number one seed. Just as likely the number two and three slot will be LA and Dallas. This is important because this means second round match up between the two. The fourth seed will most likely be Oklahoma City.

Seeds 5-8 will be some combination of New Orleans, Utah, Denver, Portland or Memphis. New Orleans when they get healthy would probably get that 5th seed unless if Denver keeps Anthony. Either way, it does not seem that that 5th seed will get past Oklahoma City.

So, the Spurs are most likely to meet a struggling 8th seed in the first round, Oklahoma City in the 2nd round, and LA or Dallas for the conference finals. The stars are looking pretty good for getting to the NBA finals barring major injury.

[HarlemHeat37]

The bottom is far from set..5-8 isn't set at all..the Hornets are struggling and hurt, the Jazz just lost their coach, the Nuggets will probably lose Anthony..those are 3 of the 4 teams that have the current playoff spots, at least 2 of them have a realistic chance of missing the playoffs(once Anthony is traded)..

As for the top, yes, it looks like the Spurs will potentially get OKC in the 2nd round, and LA-Dallas will face off, which would be perfect..

[spurs10]

Yep. Looks about right!

[DesignatedT]

Memphis in the first round would be a dream come true. Keep praying that they win every game. It would be much better then having to travel up to Portland.

[honestfool84]

i would love to play OKC... not because i think we would dominate them (though i do think we would win), but because that would be a very fun matchup to watch.

[barbacoataco]

It would be great for Dallas and L.A. to be the 2 and 3 seed.

[Xevious]

I was thinking about this the other day. As long as the Spurs can hang on to the top seed, things are looking good. LAL/Dallas in round two is perfect. Not only will it be an interesting matchup, they'll get to beat each other up in what will hopefully be a long series. None of the 5-8 seed possibilities worry me in a 7-game series. NOH and OKC will probably get four and five, which will mean OKC for us in the second round most likely.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Nuggets need to get the 6th or 7th seed.

I would love to see if they can take the Mavs or Lakers in the playoffs. It will likely be a cakewalk for the other team if Melo is traded, but it will be fun anyway

JUst gotta stay away from the 8th spot.

[dav4463]

OKC scares me more than Dallas.

[buttsR4rebounding]

OKC scares me more than Dallas.

No way. Westbrook is a turnover machine, makes bad decisions and shoots 42% from the field. His stats are due to volume. This would be a 4-1 or 4-2 series for the Spurs.

[100%duncan]

OKC scares me more than Dallas.

durant fanboy

[Jimcs50]

Refresh my memory. A division winner does not get a 3 seed if a team like Dallas has better record, right? So The Thunder will be 4 seed, not Mavs, correct?

I want Dallas and LA to be 2-3, have a grueling 7 game series before Spurs meet them in WCFs.

[Cry Havoc]

OKC scares me more than Dallas.

No way. OKC is a perfect matchup for us. They're a young team and they won't execute well in the playoffs under any kind of defensive pressure. We'd take them out in 5. 6 at the worst.

[dbestpro]

Refresh my memory. A division winner does not get a 3 seed if a team like Dallas has better record, right? So The Thunder will be 4 seed, not Mavs, correct?

I want Dallas and LA to be 2-3, have a grueling 7 game series before Spurs meet them in WCFs.

You are correct.

[TheRealCB]

You are correct.

No you are both wrong.

[K-State Spur]

No you are both wrong.

No they are right. All 3 division winners are guaranteed TOP FOUR seeds in the conference.

If the playoffs started today:

1 - Spurs
2 - Lakers
3 - Mavs
4 - OKC

Think of it as 2 separate playoff divisions. 1st division, seeds 1-4, is the 3 division champions + top wild card team. Once those teams have been determined, actual seeding is determined by overall record, not division championship. 5-8 obviously come from the next best records.

[K-State Spur]

It would be great for Dallas and L.A. to be the 2 and 3 seed.

Agreed. I think that would be a terrific (grueling) series...probably ultimately won by the Lakers.

Assuming no major injuries (big assumption - knock on wood) and the Spurs taking care of business against their section of the field (not unlikely), that would set up as the antithesis of 2008 - where it was the Lakers that got through a relatively easy series against Utah and had a nice break for the Spurs team that needed a game 7 road win to get past a stout New Orleans team.

Despite matching up terribly against that Laker team and having a relatively paltry bench - San Antonio gets game 1 if they don't run out of gas in the late 3rd. Who knows what happens then (probably the same ultimate result, but definitely not a given)?

[Gooshie]

It would be only fitting for Dallas and LAL to play in the second round (and fortunate for us, of course). In the Duncan/Kobe/Nowitzki era, the Spurs have played the Lakers 6 times in the playoffs and the Spurs have played the Mavericks 5 times. Meanwhile the Lakers and Mavs have played ZERO times.

The law of averages (and lady luck) points to an inevitable Dallas-LAL second round match-up. (In order for this to happen, Spurs fans should be rooting FOR these two teams and against the Thunder so that OKC doesn't leap frog one of them).

[coyotes_geek]

OKC scares me more than Dallas.

They shouldn't. At least not for another year or two.

[Jimcs50]

It would be only fitting for Dallas and LAL to play in the second round (and fortunate for us, of course). In the Duncan/Kobe/Nowitzki era, the Spurs have played the Lakers 6 times in the playoffs and the Spurs have played the Mavericks 5 times. Meanwhile the Lakers and Mavs have played ZERO times.

The law of averages (and lady luck) points to an inevitable Dallas-LAL second round match-up. (In order for this to happen, Spurs fans should be rooting FOR these two teams and against the Thunder so that OKC doesn't leap frog one of them).

I think they are locked in those two spots. Ok city is not showing any signs of catching them whatsoever, even though they are only 2 games back.

[K-State Spur]

OKC is still a low post scorer away from being a serious threat to any of the powers that be.

They should get past the first round - which will represent progress over last year, but they still have to work too hard for their points to knock off any of the big dogs.

I like was Presti has done. Patience is a virtue that many GMs lack. But really all that he has done so far is shown that he is great at the draft (not unimportant). However, you also have to know when to pull the trigger to upgrade via trade as well. They have some young assets and they could have been contenders THIS year if they had added a quality big whose game complements Durant/Westbrook. I'm not sure who that guy is off the top of my head, but I'm not being paid to manage the Thunder either.

[dav4463]

No they are right. All 3 division winners are guaranteed TOP FOUR seeds in the conference.

If the playoffs started today:

1 - Spurs
2 - Lakers
3 - Mavs
4 - OKC

Think of it as 2 separate playoff divisions. 1st division, seeds 1-4, is the 3 division champions + top wild card team. Once those teams have been determined, actual seeding is determined by overall record, not division championship. 5-8 obviously come from the next best records.

If the Lakers win their division, but Mavs have a better record....then the Lakers would still be #2 seed because they won their division. I think I am right on this one. Also, if Mavs and Lakers meet each other in the next round, the Mavs would get home court advantage regardless of seeding. Home court is based on record only.

[boutons_deux]

I think today's playoffs would be, with probably 1-4 seeds locked up:

1. Spurs
8. Blazers

4 Mavs
5 Hornets

===========

2. Lakers
7. Jazz

3. Thunder
6. Nuggs

[rmt]

If the Lakers win their division, but Mavs have a better record....then the Lakers would still be #2 seed because they won their division. I think I am right on this one. Also, if Mavs and Lakers meet each other in the next round, the Mavs would get home court advantage regardless of seeding. Home court is based on record only.

I don't think so. Division winners + next highest winning team are guaranteed a top 4 seed. The seeding is determined by overall record. This rule was changed after 06 when I believe MAVS and SA had the top 2 records in the West but played in the WCSF (were seeded 1 and 4 because division winners then got the top 3 seeds so SA got shafted). So as of last night, it would be 1. Spurs 2. LA 3. Mavs 4. OKC.

[ohmwrecker]

^ Mavs vs Nuggs, Thunder vs Hornets

Lakers are still ahead of Mavs . . . barely.

[boutons_deux]

The best the Mavs can do is 4th place, since they can't win their WC division to get into the top 3.

[K-State Spur]

The best the Mavs can do is 4th place, since they can't win their WC division to get into the top 3.

no, no, no. winning your division guarantees you a top 4 seed - but you can still get leap frogged by 1 (and only 1) second place division team if they have a better record.