McDonald: Bulls, Bears And The Spurs In The Standings

[duncan228]

Bulls, bears and the Spurs in the standings
By Jeff McDonald

Drew Gooden says he tries not to pay too much attention to where the Spurs sit in the daily NBA standings.

"It's like trying to watch the stock market," Gooden said. "You never know how it's going to change."

Some days are bulls, some days are bears, and some days -- like Friday -- there is no change at all, no matter what you do.

The Spurs won a grueling 105-99 victory over Utah, then watched as Portland beat the Lakers (surprise!) and Houston win at Golden State (no surprise!). The end result: The Spurs remained in fifth place in the West, losing out on a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Blazers.

At this point, it appears likely the Spurs will fall somewhere between third and fifth in the final conference standings. That could mean the difference in going on the road in the first round and facing the Lakers in the second, or playing at home in the first round and facing the Nuggets in the second.

Here is a glance at the remaining schedules for the Spurs, Blazers and Rockets:

Spurs: at Sacramento, at Golden State, vs. New Orleans
Portland: at L.A. Clippers, vs. Oklahoma City, vs. Denver
Houston: vs. New Orleans, at Dallas

Let's investigate the scenario that we here at Courtside, in our infinite wisdom, project to be the most likely. Let's say Portland runs the table, the Spurs go 2-1 and Houston splits its final two games.

That leaves Portland at 54-28. The Blazers would earn the third seed, based on record, even though Denver wins the Northwest Division (remember, since 2006, division winners are guaranteed only a top 4 slot).

The Spurs and Rockets would finish tied at 53-29, at which point things could get interesting. The two teams split their four head-to-head meetings this season. The next tiebreaker (divisional record) might go to the Spurs, depending on who their one loss came against.

If it's anybody but New Orleans, the Spurs would have the superior divisional mark, giving them the tiebreaker and the No. 4 seed. If the Spurs' one loss does come to the Hornets, the teams finish tied against the division, and we move on to the next tiebreaker: conference record.

Which, of course, does no good. Both teams would be tied against the conference, as well.

Next tiebreaker: record against conference playoff opponents. This is where it falls apart for the Spurs. In the scenario outlined above (Spurs lose to New Orleans, Houston splits its final two games), the Spurs would end with a 10-15 mark against Western Conference playoff opponents.

The Rockets would be 15-13. In that case, Houston gets the fourth seed via tiebreaker, and the Spurs, as the fifth seed, open up the postseason on the road ... at Houston.

Of course, that's just one permutation. It should be a fun five days. Stay tuned.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Spurs can win these last 3. I really don't want them to be a 4 or a 5 seed.

[Muser]

Just shows how packed the middle of the west is.

[mytespurs]

The Spurs dropped from 3 to 5???!!!

[wildbill2u]

I wish there was a way we could drop to 8th. I'd rather face the Lakers in our first round when we are relatively fresh. If we win, its downhill all the way from there.

If we lose, well, we would have lost to them in the WCF anyway.

[The Truth #6]

I wish there was a way we could drop to 8th. I'd rather face the Lakers in our first round when we are relatively fresh. If we win, its downhill all the way from there.

If we lose, well, we would have lost to them in the WCF anyway.

I imagine the owners would prefer to get to the 2nd round, but I understand your logic.