Allanon
03-08-2008, 03:45 AM
We've had a few of the "Will Spurs get the #1 seed" or who will be the #1 seed by the end.
It's about the schedules I think, so this article seems pretty good:
by: Mark Stein
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-080308-09
1. LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Games remaining: 13 home, 8 road
Record against teams still to play: 19-8
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .515
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 12 over, 9 under
Toughest stretch: March 14-20, with four straight road games against the Hornets, Rockets, Mavericks and Jazz.
Outlook: The Grizzlies will continue to be subjected to bitter jabs from the Lakers' conference rivals about handing Pau Gasol to L.A. for nada. But the schedule-makers are bound to wind up as the No. 2 target for the rest of the West once the other teams realize that Kobe and Co. have the closest thing to a cake schedule over the next six weeks. No team in the West's top nine has fewer road games remaining and the Lakers also have just three back-to-backs left. They can make a real push for the No. 1 seed even if Andrew Bynum doesn't make his comeback from a knee injury before the playoffs.
2. DALLAS MAVERICKS
Games remaining: 12 home, 8 road
Record against teams still to play: 17-12
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .506
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 11 over, 9 under
Toughest stretch: March 27-April 6, with five of six games on the road and a home date with the Mavs' old pals from Golden State.
Outlook: The Mavs opened a crucial flurry of home games with a lifeless loss to a Houston team they've routinely handled for years. But Dirk Nowitzki was out on a one-game suspension and Dallas -- sporting the West's No. 2 home record at 25-4 -- still plays eight of its next nine games at home with only a trip to Miami to intervene. There are lots of challenging home dates in that run, but the Mavs clearly play better in Big D. The games are also spaced out favorably, with only two back-to-backs left in their future. Given what some of the competition has to cope with, Dallas can't ask for much more in its ongoing search for the continuity and defensive cohesion that hasn't yet materialized with Jason Kidd.
3. HOUSTON ROCKETS
Games remaining: 10 home, 11 road
Record against teams still to play: 21-10
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .512
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 11 over, 10 under
Toughest stretch: March 19-April 6, with eight of 10 games on the road.
Outlook: The Rockets' remaining home schedule includes only four teams with winning records -- Hornets, Lakers, Celtics and Suns -- so their road challenges will obviously be tougher. Yet I also have to say that the team I saw first-hand Thursday night was the most confident and unified group of Rockets since Yao Ming got there ... even with Yao out injured now. Given that they've won 11 in a row on the road and have begun playing at a faster tempo sans Yao that might make it easier to run with teams like Golden State and Denver, I don't see anything on the schedule to suggest they'll be slipping back out of the top eight.
4. UTAH JAZZ
Games remaining: 11 home, 9 road
Record against teams still to play: 20-12
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .519
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 11 over, 9 under
Toughest stretch: April 4-16, with nothing but tough assignments in the season's final six games.
Outlook: The Jazz, remember, are one of only three teams in the West's top nine with a losing record on the road at 13-19. So their four-game trip to the East next week is Jerry Sloan's first concern, followed by that unforgiving April. Utah will be done with its back-to-back obligations by then but there is no let-up late, since those final six games include home dates with San Antonio, Denver and Houston and roadies in New Orleans, Dallas and San Antonio. Let's not forget, though, that the Jazz still haven't lost a home game in 2008, which is one big reason why they remain a heavy favorite to win their division.
5. PHOENIX SUNS
Games remaining: 11 home, 10 road
Record against teams still to play: 16-11
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .538
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 14 over, 7 under
Toughest stretch: March 18-April 1, with seven of nine games on the road and stops in Detroit and Boston on March 24 and March 26.
Outlook: By no measure do the Suns have an easy stretch-run schedule. But they've got bigger challenges and chores, obviously, than obsessing over degree of schedule difficulty in the midst of this, uh, complicated integration of a newcomer named Shaquille O'Neal . . . which Steve Nash keeps calling a late-season "training camp." Having only four more back-to-back sets is a livable number compared to most teams and the Suns also have several very winnable games sprinkled in with their two remaining showdowns with San Antonio, Houston and Denver and the roadies against the Pistons and Celtics. At least we think so.
6. DENVER NUGGETS
Games remaining: 10 home, 12 road
Record against teams still to play: 15-9
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .515
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 13 over, 9 under
Toughest stretch: March 18-April 1, with a five-game road trip that starts in Detroit, including Allen Iverson's long-awaited return to Philadelphia and followed up with a four-game stretch in which the Nuggets play host to Dallas and Golden State and play Phoenix twice.
Outlook: Four of the Nuggets' final seven games are against teams that will be out of playoff contention. The assignment, then, is turning this week's big home wins over Phoenix and San Antonio into a road spark that can last until April, with daunting road dates looming Saturday and Monday -- at Utah and San Antonio -- before they even start that five-game trip. If the Nuggets can't beat the Jazz or the Spurs away, they'll be lugging a 12-19 road record with them on that long journey, which also features the unappetizing possibility of Iverson's old team boosting its own unexpected playoff chances (and dealing Denver's odds a real blow) when AI goes to Philly as a visitor for the first time on March 19.
7. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Games remaining: 10 home, 12 road
Record against teams still to play: 19-10
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .522
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 14 over, 8 under
Toughest stretch: April 1-6, with a four-game trip through the Southwest Division that pits the Warriors against every Southwest team but Houston.
Outlook: Only San Antonio (15) has more games left against teams with winning records than Golden State and eight of those 14 are roadies for the Warriors. The bigger issue, however, might be the playing-time load being shouldered by Baron Davis and Monta Ellis. Over the past seven games, for example, Davis -- who hasn't missed a game all season, for the record -- has been averaging nearly 42 minutes, with Ellis at nearly 44 minutes. Will Don Nelson use his bench more down the stretch? Can Nellie's guards continue to stay fresh if he doesn't? And how much longer will Andris Biedrins be out? All big questions for a team that, under the circumstances, would probably have to consider it a success just making the playoffs for a second straight season.
8. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Games remaining: 10 home, 12 road
Record against teams still to play: 22-14
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .561
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 15 over, 7 under
Toughest stretch: March 12-25, with six of eight games on the road.
Outlook: You'd think that the Spurs would have a home-heavy schedule after getting through their famed Rodeo Road Trip in February. But you'd be wrong. Friday night's game in Denver completes only the first of six remaining back-to-backs and March calls for the reigning champs to play 18 games alone. It adds up to a demanding stretch run for the oldest team in the field, especially since the easiest road games San Antonio has left -- Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland and Sacramento -- aren't gimmes at all. Only a West-low seven of the Spurs' final 22 opponents, in fact, are teams with sub-.500 records.
9. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
Games remaining: 10 home, 12 road
Record against teams still to play: 19-14
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .551
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 14 over, 8 under
Toughest stretch: March 8 through March 22, featuring two games against the Rockets, a trip to Detroit and home dates with the Spurs, Lakers and Celtics crammed into a seven-game span.
Outlook: It's a good thing for the Hornets that they're so comfortable as a traveling team, because they still face a six-game East swing -- their longest trip of the season -- after getting through the aforementioned seven-game crunch. The Hornets must also play four of their final five games away, with the April 16 season finale in Dallas capping the last of seven back-to-backs still hanging over them. Inexperience and injuries, respectively, derailed these guys in March in Chris Paul's first two seasons. It's a different team now -- needing only a 9-13 finish to be a 50-win team -- but no one in the West will see a tougher finishing kick.
It's about the schedules I think, so this article seems pretty good:
by: Mark Stein
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-080308-09
1. LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Games remaining: 13 home, 8 road
Record against teams still to play: 19-8
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .515
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 12 over, 9 under
Toughest stretch: March 14-20, with four straight road games against the Hornets, Rockets, Mavericks and Jazz.
Outlook: The Grizzlies will continue to be subjected to bitter jabs from the Lakers' conference rivals about handing Pau Gasol to L.A. for nada. But the schedule-makers are bound to wind up as the No. 2 target for the rest of the West once the other teams realize that Kobe and Co. have the closest thing to a cake schedule over the next six weeks. No team in the West's top nine has fewer road games remaining and the Lakers also have just three back-to-backs left. They can make a real push for the No. 1 seed even if Andrew Bynum doesn't make his comeback from a knee injury before the playoffs.
2. DALLAS MAVERICKS
Games remaining: 12 home, 8 road
Record against teams still to play: 17-12
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .506
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 11 over, 9 under
Toughest stretch: March 27-April 6, with five of six games on the road and a home date with the Mavs' old pals from Golden State.
Outlook: The Mavs opened a crucial flurry of home games with a lifeless loss to a Houston team they've routinely handled for years. But Dirk Nowitzki was out on a one-game suspension and Dallas -- sporting the West's No. 2 home record at 25-4 -- still plays eight of its next nine games at home with only a trip to Miami to intervene. There are lots of challenging home dates in that run, but the Mavs clearly play better in Big D. The games are also spaced out favorably, with only two back-to-backs left in their future. Given what some of the competition has to cope with, Dallas can't ask for much more in its ongoing search for the continuity and defensive cohesion that hasn't yet materialized with Jason Kidd.
3. HOUSTON ROCKETS
Games remaining: 10 home, 11 road
Record against teams still to play: 21-10
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .512
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 11 over, 10 under
Toughest stretch: March 19-April 6, with eight of 10 games on the road.
Outlook: The Rockets' remaining home schedule includes only four teams with winning records -- Hornets, Lakers, Celtics and Suns -- so their road challenges will obviously be tougher. Yet I also have to say that the team I saw first-hand Thursday night was the most confident and unified group of Rockets since Yao Ming got there ... even with Yao out injured now. Given that they've won 11 in a row on the road and have begun playing at a faster tempo sans Yao that might make it easier to run with teams like Golden State and Denver, I don't see anything on the schedule to suggest they'll be slipping back out of the top eight.
4. UTAH JAZZ
Games remaining: 11 home, 9 road
Record against teams still to play: 20-12
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .519
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 11 over, 9 under
Toughest stretch: April 4-16, with nothing but tough assignments in the season's final six games.
Outlook: The Jazz, remember, are one of only three teams in the West's top nine with a losing record on the road at 13-19. So their four-game trip to the East next week is Jerry Sloan's first concern, followed by that unforgiving April. Utah will be done with its back-to-back obligations by then but there is no let-up late, since those final six games include home dates with San Antonio, Denver and Houston and roadies in New Orleans, Dallas and San Antonio. Let's not forget, though, that the Jazz still haven't lost a home game in 2008, which is one big reason why they remain a heavy favorite to win their division.
5. PHOENIX SUNS
Games remaining: 11 home, 10 road
Record against teams still to play: 16-11
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .538
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 14 over, 7 under
Toughest stretch: March 18-April 1, with seven of nine games on the road and stops in Detroit and Boston on March 24 and March 26.
Outlook: By no measure do the Suns have an easy stretch-run schedule. But they've got bigger challenges and chores, obviously, than obsessing over degree of schedule difficulty in the midst of this, uh, complicated integration of a newcomer named Shaquille O'Neal . . . which Steve Nash keeps calling a late-season "training camp." Having only four more back-to-back sets is a livable number compared to most teams and the Suns also have several very winnable games sprinkled in with their two remaining showdowns with San Antonio, Houston and Denver and the roadies against the Pistons and Celtics. At least we think so.
6. DENVER NUGGETS
Games remaining: 10 home, 12 road
Record against teams still to play: 15-9
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .515
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 13 over, 9 under
Toughest stretch: March 18-April 1, with a five-game road trip that starts in Detroit, including Allen Iverson's long-awaited return to Philadelphia and followed up with a four-game stretch in which the Nuggets play host to Dallas and Golden State and play Phoenix twice.
Outlook: Four of the Nuggets' final seven games are against teams that will be out of playoff contention. The assignment, then, is turning this week's big home wins over Phoenix and San Antonio into a road spark that can last until April, with daunting road dates looming Saturday and Monday -- at Utah and San Antonio -- before they even start that five-game trip. If the Nuggets can't beat the Jazz or the Spurs away, they'll be lugging a 12-19 road record with them on that long journey, which also features the unappetizing possibility of Iverson's old team boosting its own unexpected playoff chances (and dealing Denver's odds a real blow) when AI goes to Philly as a visitor for the first time on March 19.
7. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Games remaining: 10 home, 12 road
Record against teams still to play: 19-10
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .522
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 14 over, 8 under
Toughest stretch: April 1-6, with a four-game trip through the Southwest Division that pits the Warriors against every Southwest team but Houston.
Outlook: Only San Antonio (15) has more games left against teams with winning records than Golden State and eight of those 14 are roadies for the Warriors. The bigger issue, however, might be the playing-time load being shouldered by Baron Davis and Monta Ellis. Over the past seven games, for example, Davis -- who hasn't missed a game all season, for the record -- has been averaging nearly 42 minutes, with Ellis at nearly 44 minutes. Will Don Nelson use his bench more down the stretch? Can Nellie's guards continue to stay fresh if he doesn't? And how much longer will Andris Biedrins be out? All big questions for a team that, under the circumstances, would probably have to consider it a success just making the playoffs for a second straight season.
8. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Games remaining: 10 home, 12 road
Record against teams still to play: 22-14
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .561
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 15 over, 7 under
Toughest stretch: March 12-25, with six of eight games on the road.
Outlook: You'd think that the Spurs would have a home-heavy schedule after getting through their famed Rodeo Road Trip in February. But you'd be wrong. Friday night's game in Denver completes only the first of six remaining back-to-backs and March calls for the reigning champs to play 18 games alone. It adds up to a demanding stretch run for the oldest team in the field, especially since the easiest road games San Antonio has left -- Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland and Sacramento -- aren't gimmes at all. Only a West-low seven of the Spurs' final 22 opponents, in fact, are teams with sub-.500 records.
9. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
Games remaining: 10 home, 12 road
Record against teams still to play: 19-14
Composite winning percentage of remaining opponents: .551
Games left against teams with records over and under .500: 14 over, 8 under
Toughest stretch: March 8 through March 22, featuring two games against the Rockets, a trip to Detroit and home dates with the Spurs, Lakers and Celtics crammed into a seven-game span.
Outlook: It's a good thing for the Hornets that they're so comfortable as a traveling team, because they still face a six-game East swing -- their longest trip of the season -- after getting through the aforementioned seven-game crunch. The Hornets must also play four of their final five games away, with the April 16 season finale in Dallas capping the last of seven back-to-backs still hanging over them. Inexperience and injuries, respectively, derailed these guys in March in Chris Paul's first two seasons. It's a different team now -- needing only a 9-13 finish to be a 50-win team -- but no one in the West will see a tougher finishing kick.