Following up on my predictions here at around the 43rd game of the season where we were 26-17, let's see where we're at: We went 7-2 against that schedule with one to play. Right now we're 22-7 against them with one game at home against Philly, our next game. Then we'll be done with the Eastern Conference. Currently 22-19 against the West. Would have to go 5-6 to meet my 50. There's a good chance we surpass my expectations. Since this post, Portland has gone 11-7 against the West, including 7-2 against the lower tier and 4-5 against the upper tier. I said if we lost two or three games against the lower tier (We still have 5 more games against them out of our remaining 12), and we won 5 of our 15 against the upper (we've won 4 already), that we'd get there. We still have 4 of our remaining 6 games against good Western teams at home. Looking at the remaining schedule: vs Philadelphia W vs Phoenix W vs Memphis W vs Utah W @ Oklahoma City W @ Houston L @ Memphis W @ San Antonio L vs LA Lakers W @ LA Clippers W vs Oklahoma City W vs Denver W 10-2 could be attainable, giving us a 54-28 record (giving us a second half record of 29-12). I would have to think that 54 wins gets you a decent playoff seed.
Great game with Rockets vs Spurs right now! Rockets up by 1 with 29 seconds left. Spurs will drop to #3 if they lose.
Houston, despite having one more loss than San Antonio, is now the No. 2 seed in the West.. Shocking, as we were just battling Houston for positioning a week ago. And now we're only 1.5 games behind the Spurs. This is getting crazier and crazier every day!
For some reason, the Spurs no longer seem like the scary team they used to be. Does anyone else feel the same way?
Come playoff time, I still wouldn't bet against them yet since they still have Manu out. But their supporting cast is really mediocre or just plain old, and guys like Bonner and Mason are having career-like years. They're heading on a downward slope for sure though.
The Spurs are definitely not as good as they used to be. Duncan has chronic knee problems, Ginobili is seemingly always hurt, and their role players basically suck.
Re: Merged: Who do we root for? Who to root for between Denver and Phoenix? Denver loses and we win, we are tied for first in the division, but if Phoenix loses and we win, it's 2 more games off of our magic number, instead of 1. I suppose I would say Denver, since we still reduce our magic number, while also gaining in our division.
Re: Merged: Who do we root for? I'm definitely rooting for Phoenix. I'm not the slightest bit worried about Portland making the playoffs, so Phoenix is no longer relevant. Phoenix can help by beating teams Portland is fighting with for seeding and losing to Portland.
Re: Merged: Who do we root for? Utah or Phoenix tonight? I'm pretty torn. Utah of course they're in our division, but the Suns are starting to put a little scare in me with their vets realizing it's now or never. I'd like to see our magic number shrink.
Re: Merged: Who do we root for? I'm rooting for the Suns. If the Suns win tonight and then we take care of business tomorrow, we pass the Jazz and drop two games off of our magic number.
Re: Merged: Who do we root for? I just want the game to go to quadruple OT. We win no matter who wins.
Phoenix is definitely back in the race now after beating Utah. They're only three games behind Dallas. I'm getting a little nervous about the Suns.
Knicks coming through big for us, by beating the Hornets at MSG. 2:00 left, Knicks by 10. That will put NO tied with us in the loss column. Denver up 5 on Dallas at the half.
baring something miraculous, the division is gone. denver's schedule is so freaking easy to end the season, we'd have to only lose 1 more game the rest of the year to have a chance to make the last game of the year meaningful.
