i'd say the mavs, hornets, and nuggets would all definitely give the blazers a better chance of advancing than the rockets.
I'd say we have no answer against the Rockets. They have consistently toyed with us and it took a miracle to win the first time. Tonight we never had a chance, were never in it at all. We would need to really embrace the running game, and trust Sergio and Bayless to be out there more, and I don't see Nate doing that. He will tighten the rotation considerably come playoff time, and Roy and Blake will be dog-tired in the fourth quarters of games. I'd much rather face SA or the Lakers but we'll be seeded too high for that in the first round. I really don't care who we play as long as we play in the finals.
We were absolutely in it. We shot better than them. Made one more shot than them. We merely lost it at the free throw line. Outlaw was fouled on that one drive that would've cut the lead to 2 but they didn't call it. But you have to make the free throws that the refs gave us and we didn't shoot as well as we needed to to win the game. My point is the game was very close. If anything, WE were toying with them, letting them get a big lead, knowing that we can climb right back into the game at will. Which we did, as usual. It was very close.
one team shot 44%. the other shot 43.9%. to say that one team shot better is technically correct but insignificant.
That is why I picked Dallas. With home court I think we can beat them ina playoff series. I think we may be able to also beat Phoenix. I don't think we could beat anyone else.