Chasing The Playoffs v2 - 2019 Magic Numbers

[Chinook]

Then why is everybody, everywhere, talking about how the Rockets might fall to 4th if the Blazers beat the Kings? The ing Nuggets even tanked the Blazers game to get the Rockets out of their bracket.

Pretty sure they tanked the game because they had already won the division. The stuff about the Rockets was fan-talk. Once Houston beat Phoenix, the Blazers couldn't catch them.

[DAF86]

Yeah. I think a lot of people remember the League changing some rules in 2015 and thinking that division winners get no perks when it comes to playoff considerations. The rule change just made it to where division winners could be in the bottom half of the bracket if they didn't have a top-four record in the conference. The "zeroth tie-break" rule didn't get changed.

From Clutchfans: http://rockets.clutchfans.net/11520/...possibilities/

If the Rockets lose to the Thunder and...

If Portland goes 2-0 ➡️➡️➡️ Rockets are the 4th seed

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

nba.com has the head to head record as first tiebreaker over division leader in two-way ties and division leader as first tiebreaker in multi-way ties.

[DAF86]

Pretty sure they tanked the game because they had already won the division. The stuff about the Rockets was fan-talk. Once Houston beat Phoenix, the Blazers couldn't catch them.

Dude, unless every NBA journalist on TV and the internet is wrong, you are pissing out of the bucket, tbh.

[mystargtr34]

Portland aint locked into .. if Nuggets beat Minny tomorrow.. and Blazers win their game its;

2. Denver
3. Portland
4. Houston

If Denver loses and Portland wins its a three way tie and ends up;

2. Houston
3. Denver
4. Portland

If Denver wins and Portland loses;

2. Denver
3. Houston
4. Portland

I think.

Best case scenario for Spurs is obviously win tomorrow and hope Denver and Portland win, then there is a legit chance to get to the WCF as Houston ends up on the Warriors bracket opposite the Spurs.

[mystargtr34]

Most likely scenario is number 1 above imo Den and Por win out. If the Spurs take care of business and win;

If OKC beats Milwaukee which i think they will as i think the Bucks rest their main guys then Spurs get the Nuggets in the 2-7 matchup. 3-6 would be Portland-OKC.

If OKC loses to Milwaukee then Spurs own the tie breaker over OKC which means Spurs get the Blazers in the 3-6 matchup and its Denver-OKC in 2-7 regardless of what Clippers do as Thunder own the tiebreaker over the Clips.

I'm not sure who i prefer vs Portland or Denver.. probably Portland given the Nurkic injury.

[timvp]

Nope. Portland is locked into the four-seed.

Yes they are. Houston has the tie-break for third, they've already lost the division to Denver, and they can't fall down to Utah. I'm smoking truth, Homes.

If Portland and Denver win, the Rockets are 4th seed.

Division becomes the leading criteria if more than two teams are tied. If just two teams are tied, head-to-head record is compared first.

[DAF86]

Most likely scenario is number 1 above imo Den and Por win out. If the Spurs take care of business and win;

If OKC beats Milwaukee which i think they will as i think the Bucks rest their main guys then Spurs get the Nuggets in the 2-7 matchup. 3-6 would be Portland-OKC.

If OKC loses to Milwaukee then Spurs own the tie breaker over OKC which means Spurs get the Blazers in the 3-6 matchup and its Denver-OKC in 2-7 regardless of what Clippers do as Thunder own the tiebreaker over the Clips.

I'm not sure who i prefer vs Portland or Denver.. probably Portland given the Nurkic injury.

I don't think that's correct. I think that in case of a 3 way tie, it's Spurs 6th, Clippers 7th and Thunder 8th.

[mystargtr34]

I don't think that's correct. I think that in case of a 3 way tie, it's Spurs 6th, Clippers 7th and Thunder 8th.

Ah, i think you are correct, cheers.

[Chinook]

If Portland and Denver win, the Rockets are 4th seed.

Division becomes the leading criteria if more than two teams are tied. If just two teams are tied, head-to-head record is compared first.

Weird. NBA.com has that now. Last year, they had division winner at the top. H2H was the first tie-break for HCA, but not for positioning. That meant that (apparently under last year's rules), if Portland and Houston finished the season tied, Houston would get the three-seed based on being a division winner, but if the teams were to meet in the semis, then Portland would have HCA as the third seed.

I find it odd that the NBA tie-break page https://www.nba.com/standings is so condensed now. It doesn't mention the different criteria for Finals HCA, for example. I'm not sure if this is because there has been a rule change to simplify the system, or if this page arbitrarily truncated the sequence. It leaves me skeptical, but I don't think I have a good argument without finding more info.

[kobyz]

Rockets blow it bigtime, they just gift warriors the clippers instead of let them fight the thunder, they should feel very sorry

[spursistan]

A couple of expected results tonight and we are in dream bracket..This is about to play perfectly for the Spurs.

[spursistan]

PS. Am I the only one who thinks Rockets would be better off playing the Warriors in the second round?

They are without home court either way, might as well take on the Dubs as early as possible with less wear and tear on Harden and Paul (and with Curry still nursing his ankle)..

[siraulo23]

Nope. Portland is locked into the four-seed.

Nah Spurs Blazers can still happen, Blazers can get the 3rd seed still

[GusT15]

A couple of expected results tonight and we are in dream bracket..This is about to play perfectly for the Spurs.

The Nuggets committed the ultimate hubris by throwing away their last two games to shape their bracket as they wanted it.
If Portland and Denver win tonight (as they logically will),the Nuggets shaped their bracket to avoid Houston in the WCSF,and have to go through Spurs/Clips/Blazers/OKC to reach the WCF.

A team coached by a dude that never coached a single game in the Playoffs,led by a dude that has never played a game in the Playoffs,decided to lose games having the Conference Finals in mind.Not the first round in a "one step at a time" mentality.They had the 2nd round and WCF in mind.

This is arrogance,and for basketball reasons,if they fail it will taste oh so much sweeter.

[spursistan]

The Nuggets committed the ultimate hubris by throwing away their last two games to shape their bracket as they wanted it.
If Portland and Denver win tonight (as they logically will),the Nuggets shaped their bracket to avoid Houston in the WCSF,and have to go through Spurs/Clips/Blazers/OKC to reach the WCF.

A team coached by a dude that never coached a single game in the Playoffs,led by a dude that has never played a game in the Playoffs,decided to lose games having the Conference Finals in mind.Not the first round in a "one step at a time" mentality.They had the 2nd round and WCF in mind.

This is arrogance,and for basketball reasons,if they fail it will taste oh so much sweeter.

Yep, that's why I hope we get them and make the whole thing blow up in their face..

[GusT15]

[paperboy77]

If it would mean SA vs Portland I really hope the Bucks scrubs play their asses off tonight. It would be huge for their psyche if the bench unit beats a PO team without their stars. Could happen and I think it will. OKC probably exhausted from last nights game and coaching is at a minimum halfway considering effects of going all out tonight. Spurs better put down the Mavs.

[monty4329]

who's playing for MIL...?

[GusT15]

If it would mean SA vs Portland I really hope the Bucks scrubs play their asses off tonight. It would be huge for their psyche if the bench unit beats a PO team without their stars. Could happen and I think it will. OKC probably exhausted from last nights game and coaching is at a minimum halfway considering effects of going all out tonight. Spurs better put down the Mavs.

Budenholzer can still put together a compe ive line up with Bledsoe/Middleton and an in-form Georgie Hill off the bench.

The question is how many minutes is he gonna play his 2 starters in the game and if he'll actually care enough to coach for the W.

Betting lines of the important-seeding wise-games tonight,as of right now

OKC@MKE Thunder -4.5 favorites
DAL@SA Spurs -13.5 favorites
UTA@LAC Clippers -6.5 favorites
MIN@DEN Nuggets -10.5 favorites
SAC@POR Blazers -8.5 favorites

Pretty obvious it's far from a foregone conclusion that OKC will win tonight.They'll actually have to play and earn the W.

[boutons_deux]

Pretty obvious it's far from a foregone conclusion that OKC will win tonight.They'll actually have to play and earn the W.

they did

[GusT15]

who's playing for MIL...?

Probable line up right now is

Bledsoe/Brown/Middleton/Ilyasova/DJ Wilson

G.Hill only main rotation guy off the bench though.

[monty4329]

Russ will shoot 65 shots...

[acoelho1]

I think Portland would be better match up for us but I'll definitely take Denver over Houston. I see OKC beating Portland for sure and if we bring our A game, we can take down the Nuggets. I think they are soft and still green in terms of the playoffs.

[John B]

Probable line up right now is

Bledsoe/Brown/Middleton/Ilyasova/DJ Wilson

G.Hill only main rotation guy off the bench though.

Damn Coach Bud better help his old boss. I think he’ll send them off strong in front of the home crowd