First round match-ups

[Old School 44]

The interesting thing for the Warriors could be their last game against the Grizzlies.

Win and they claim the best record for most wins in a season, but give the Spurs the Grizzlies in the first round. Outside of the Warriors, don't think there won't be some strategic tanking/winning by the top half of the draw to try to get the Grizz in the first round.

[spurs10]

I want no part of Dallas in the first round. Zaza started trying to hurt people after just a few minutes. Do you people really want him to get 4-7 games worth of chances to "accidentally" roll up on people's legs or give "good, hard playoff fouls" when the Spurs are in in the air? Let him beat the out of the Warriors.

Good point. Zaza is the dirtiest I've seen this season. Give it to the Dubs!

[DocDoc]

Want Utah to stay in 8 to tire out the Warriors.

[DrunkTXLabrat]

if i was the blazers, i would purposely drop games to play the spurs in the 1st round.

[apalisoc_9]

if i was the blazers, i would purposely drop games to play the spurs in the 1st round.

[tmtcsc]

Memphis is circling the drain. I think the Spurs will get them as the #7 seed.

[timtonymanu]

Wow, I haven't even been keeping up with Memphis . It would be nice if they can end up in the 7th seed.

[TXstbobcat]

Sweep Memphis in the 1st round and rest up for OKC in the semi-finals.

[Spurs 4 The Win]

Memphis will finish 41-41, they most likely wont win again, 42-40 is a best case scenario for them, they will finish 7th at best and may miss the playoffs entirely. Houston will likely win out if they can beat the Mavs on Wednesday. They have a good shot at the 6th seed.

[gospursgojas]

41-41 Memphis team prob finishes 8th and Warriors get a 1st round bye

[cjw]

2 way tiebreakers for Dal/Hou/Mem (didn't look at Uta and Por yet as more complicated outside of division):

Houston/Dallas game on Wednesday will allow Houston outright tiebreaker over Mavs and Grizzlies with win. With loss, they'd fall to 8-8 in division and have split with both teams. Essentially, worst they could do is have it fall to conference record tiebreaker, and they're at 22 losses (would become 23) while both Dal and Mem are already at 23.

Memphis would get to 8-8 in the division with splits against both teams by beating Dallas on Friday night. Tiebreaker would then be conference record against Houston. Dallas would get pushed to at least 9 losses in that scenario and lose tiebreaker.

If Dallas wins both games plus one against Spurs, they also move to 8-8 in the division. They also have road games left against LAC and Utah, so very likely they'll end up above 23 conference losses even if they run table in the division.

Grizzlies have three left against GSW (H and A) and LAC (away). Likely too that they add to their 23 losses.

Rockets have Suns, Lakers, Wolves, Kings in addition to the Dallas game. They likely don't drop many more conference games.

If I were a betting man, I'd say Houston has the edge over Dallas, and that Dallas-Memphis game looms very large.

[Kawhitstorm]

I want the Blazers. Damian Lillard is the closest thing in the NBA to Steph Curry right now, and figuring out how to guard him will help us with the Warriors down the road.

Damian Gizzard is not quite like Wardell.
-Porker STILL owns him b/c he's such a ty defender
-He's a STREAKY shooter
-Kawhi can shut him down w/ no help

CJ is actually the guy that might go 2014 Monta Ellis on Danny which won't help much as far as prepping for the Worriers b/c Klay is a shooter.

The Rockets would be a good but harmless series to prep for OKC & pop LMA's postseason cherry in a Spurs jersey since he owns the Crockets. They are going to need the same game plan they use for Harden to slow down WestBrick plus Dwight/Capela/D-Mo should be a decent approximation for Ibaka/Adams/Kanter. They also wouldn't have to travel much & should be desensitized to jobbed by the refs.

[Spurtacular]

Easiest to toughest:
1. Grizzlies (highly unlikely, but they're so depleted that the Spurs could rest players against them)
2. Jazz
3. Rockets

4. Mavs
5. Blazers

Tbh though, the Spurs shouldn't have to worry too much about any of these teams.

Jazz have their sh*t together and a whole bigger than the parts type of deal. They would not be easy like the others. I'm glad GS may draw them. Though, I dont think they matchup that well.

[Obstructed_View]

I want no part of Dallas in the first round. Zaza started trying to hurt people after just a few minutes. Do you people really want him to get 4-7 games worth of chances to "accidentally" roll up on people's legs or give "good, hard playoff fouls" when the Spurs are in in the air? Let him beat the out of the Warriors.

The spirit of Juwan Howard lives on. Always avoid the Mavericks. I'm really hoping they end up eighth so they can start thinking about revenge for 2007. It's inevitable that they'll come up with the plan to "make Curry think twice about going in the lane".

[Seventyniner]

Memphis is the best-case scenario, but I would want Houston after that. All their offense is concentrated in one player who Kawhi and Danny can take turns against, short travel, and Aldridge would eat them alive.

[SASdynasty!]

Houston so Timmy can finish his resume.

[Obstructed_View]

Houston so Timmy can finish his resume.

For personal reasons, I would love to watch Duncan skull the black Kevin Love in the playoffs one last time.

[spursistan]

Thinking Houston is pretty much safe with that schedule..question whether they are 8th or 7th seed..it is going to be between Utah/Dallas as to who miss the cut....

[will_spurs]

Thinking Houston is pretty much safe with that schedule..question whether they are 8th or 7th seed..it is going to be between Utah/Dallas as to who miss the cut....

Actually the question is whether the Grizzlies win another game this season: Chicago and Dallas are fighting for a playoff spot, GSW will be trying to get their record (and even then they're still GSW), only the Clippers might be resting. So the Grizz might be left out entirely. I didn't expect them to crumble so badly.

Also the HOU @ DAL game will certainly be key, same with DAL @ UTA.

[DPG21920]

Please let SA get MEM

[SpursFan86]

Ranking from most preferred to least preferred:

1) Memphis - They're ravaged by injuries, and even when healthy they match up really poorly with us

2) Dallas - They've been awful for the past month or so, and Parsons is out for the season...also travel would be a non-issue

3) Utah - I think they're better than Portland, but Kawhi owns Hayward and Green should limit Hood noticeably...Favors/Gobert is a solid duo that could cause trouble for LMA/Tim though

4) Portland - Their defense is ty but I'd rather avoid Lillard/McCollum

5) Houston - They've been incredibly underwhelming this year, but I still don't want to play them. Harden, Howard, Terry, Beverley... this team, I'll pass

FWIW, I don't really think any of the possible matchups would cause too many problems. Houston is the only team that I think could take us to 6 games, but I still think that's pretty unlikely.

[Spurs 4 The Win]

Thinking Houston is pretty much safe with that schedule..question whether they are 8th or 7th seed..it is going to be between Utah/Dallas as to who miss the cut....

From that I would say:

Grizzlies: 41-41
Houston: 43-39
Dallas: 42-40
Portland: 44-38
Utah: 41-41

[TD 21]

Ranking from most preferred to least preferred:

1) Memphis - They're ravaged by injuries, and even when healthy they match up really poorly with us

2) Dallas - They've been awful for the past month or so, and Parsons is out for the season...also travel would be a non-issue

3) Utah - I think they're better than Portland, but Kawhi owns Hayward and Green should limit Hood noticeably...Favors/Gobert is a solid duo that could cause trouble for LMA/Tim though

4) Portland - Their defense is ty but I'd rather avoid Lillard/McCollum

5) Houston - They've been incredibly underwhelming this year, but I still don't want to play them. Harden, Howard, Terry, Beverley... this team, I'll pass

FWIW, I don't really think any of the possible matchups would cause too many problems. Houston is the only team that I think could take us to 6 games, but I still think that's pretty unlikely.

Not that it really matters, but I'm sure the Spurs will end up with the Rockets and the Warriors will get the Grizzlies or Mavericks, because everything has to work out for them.

[spursistan]

Any 1st round series that extends beyond 5 games means the Spurs have coasted too much to end the season and may have lost their edge in the process..Neither of these opponent have any business taking two games off our team..

[tonight...you]

I see a lot of talk about meeting the Warriors in the WCF and even OKC in the 2nd round (assuming they make it that far), but so far I haven't seen any discussion about the 1st round. First round match-up can be important because either there's danger (I don't think that's the case this year) or it can set the tone for the whole postseason (e.g. Dallas in 2014).

Knowing that the 4 top seeds are set, how do you think the bottom 4 will look like at the end of the season? Which team will be left out? Which match-up would you favor?

How it looks now:
#5 Memphis: it doesn't matter if it's an easy series for the Clippers, as we need the Clippers fresh to give the Warriors their best effort.
#6 Portland: could they beat OKC?
#7 Dallas: good for us, short travel, good sparing partner with Carlisle at the helm, exactly like in 2014
#8 Utah: a team that's surging late, could push the Warriors a bit

I like these rankings. I want to avoid Houston if possible, as any team that plays 8 against 5 can always be an issue. And I wouldn't mind seeing Harden and Howard missing the playoffs. Dallas seems like the perfect first round opponent for us, and even if Memphis drops in the rankings, I don't see them dropping all the way to #7. The Warriors having to play Utah or Houston is probably the best we can hope for at this stage.

Totally off topic, but I think you would be better served with a Mencken quote. Just seems right.