Nah. If the Rockets lose and Portland wins out, the Blazers get the three-seed. By far the best-case scenario is to get:With the Clipps losing tonight, just gotta hope the Spurs/Thunder both win out.
That would put it as 6. OKC 7. SA 8. Clipps
Houston would be locked into the 3rd seed as well and Spurs get Denver in the 1st round....to get obliterated in 5 games
GS
DEN
POR
HOU
UTH
SA
LAC
OKC
Spurs would have a legit chance against all three teams in their half of the brakcet, whereas the three teams with the best chance to beat the Spurs are all in the other half.
It's a weird move..the 1st round matchup is irrelevant, since Spurs/Clippers/Thunder are all very flawed teams, but you would think they would want to ensure they have HCA in a potential matchup against Houston in round 2..
They probably would have won tonight, they've killed Portland all season..could have just rested Jokic at the end instead..
Only half game ahead of Houston with two relatively tough games to go. Who has the tiebreaker between those two?
Id rather the Spurs play the Nuggs than Portland tbh. Lillard and Mccollum would eat up losers like Bryn/Patty.
Houston 3-1
Can't be serious. Portland has absolutely no one to guard Aldridge or DeRozan. White can at least slow down one of Lillard and McCollum. No way would I prefer Denver, even though I do think the Spurs have a good chance there too. Ideal scenario would be for OKC to beat GS and Houston why SA beats POR then DEN. Spurs against OKC with HCA would be a close series, though there's a good chance the Spurs would be playing 6-on-4 by then with DeMar going into playoff mode.
Denver now has to go to Utah and then the Wolves in a b2b. The were they thinking?
Disagree..the Pelicans' game plan against Portland in last year's playoffs is still perfect, Portland didn't do anything to address it other than adding Rodney Hood
Portland has just as many flawed players in their rotation as the Spurs..Enes Kanter shouldn't be starting, Zach Collins and Evan Turner are complete trash and they have their own version of Mills/Forbes in Seth Curry..
DeRozan could actually succeed against them since they have an atrocious defensive backcourt..
They're the only team that the Spurs would have a good shot against IMO..Nurkic getting hurt was a massive blow..
Denver isn't scary because they lack star power(Jokic is great, but he doesn't have the mentality or scoring ability to carry a team + they don't have a legit 2nd option), but they're deep and athletic, which hurts the Spurs..as long as they don't use Isiah Thomas
Looks like Utah's getting 5th, tough for them, half their team is legitimately injured..
Harkless/Aminu/Turner/Hood would be the DeRozan defenders on the Trail Blazers, not Lillard/McCollum/Curry.
I don't want them and not because they're all that good, but because of the desperation, motivation, urgency, etc. that they'll inevitably have to atone for last season's embarrassment vs the Pelicans.
Even when they were rolling for the first 2/3rds or whatever it was, the Nuggets were always the team. One star (a reluctant one at that), one rotation player with meaningful playoff experience (Millsap), no size on the wings and now, scuffling for a while and because of their lack of pedigree, probably deep down questioning just how good they really are.
They'd be using Hood on DeRozan(Turner kills their offense and whichever of Harkless/Aminu would have to take Gay and they got Hood specifically to counter what happened last year), which is as good of a matchup as you can ask for IMO..
Not just DD, but Aldridge would dominate..motivated against Portland + also playing against a team that only has Enes Kanter and a complete scrub in Collins at C? Or Aminu and Harkless?
Denver isn't scary, either(nobody in the West is outside of GS and Houston), but at least their rotation is full of athletes and energy..
Houston wins out and Denver loses once (including a game at Utah), and Houston is the 2 seed...
Harkless would start out on DeRozan. Aminu would be the primary Gay defender. Hood comes off the bench, but you're right, he is ahead of Turner and so is Layman.
I've been tempted to pick the Rockets to win the championship for a while, but Paul being past his prime and the lack of size on the wings will probably by their undoing.
In that scenario, since Houston plays OKC that would mean OKC loses a game. So then if the Spurs win out, they would be the #6 seed facing Denver as the #3 seed.
They want Houston to drop to the 4 seed
If Portland wins out (Lakers, Kings) and Houston loses in their finale against OKC, Blazers move up.
I think Houston is better off being the 4 seed anyway-- you have to play the Warriors at some point, better to play them early because Harden wouldn't be as worn down.
Last edited by Benoit; 04-08-2019 at 12:18 AM.
Although it'd be weird-- first time since Spurs-Suns in 2007 that the real WCF would be played in round 2 and we get a lame duck WC Finalist.
They have MIN at home last game...
I am pretty sure it will be Denver in the End. Cause if Denver falls to 3rd, it means Houston has won against OKC, and the Spurs have the 6th Seed. If OKC Wins, Denver stays 2nd and Spurs will be 7th Seed. (Assumption that OKC and Spurs win against Milwaukee and Dallas).
OKC HOU gonna be a big game, OKC need to win to avoid GSW, while HOU want to win to make GSW to face OKC...
Plenty of seedings permutations out there, but the most important thing for the Spurs is that their chances of avoiding the 8th seed and the Warriors have increased massively over the last couple of days. (That Clipper loss vs the Lakers was huge)..
Should we be rooting for the Thunder or the Rockets tomorrow?
I bet Milwaukee rests everybody against OC. They got to 60 wins and locked up the best record.
This. As you say, as long as Spurs beat Mavs and OKC can overcome the Bucks scrubs (since they'll surely be resting their big guns),
Well I hope I was wrong.
If the rockets lose to the thunder they go to the 4th seed and out of their bracket. The rockets have made sport of Denver this season and they know it, and this strategy has been acknowledged by their fans.. HCA vs us wouldn’t matter so it’s pretty smart tbh. Though, if they drop the game to the jazz and the rockets beat the thunder then we slip into 2nd. Let’s see if their gamble plays off
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