I see 5th as a pretty real possibility now that Gasol is out for the season, and Dallas, quite frankly, isn't very good.
I see us 7th but it really depends how we do on this long road trip. If we are still in the playoffs after that road trip then I think it will 6th or 7th. If we beat Houston Thurs then we got that tie breaker on them.
MEM has such a cupcake schedule coming up. They play the following teams the next 7 games. LAL, LAL, PHX, DEN, SAC, UT, PHX. There is at most 1 loss in there.
I think we have a VERY legitimate shot at the 5th seed. DAL is in a bit of a free fall and only 0.5 games ahead of us. We have two more games against them in late March. Win those two and it gives us the tie breaker. MEM just announced Marc Gasol is out for the season. They have been playing well without him, but I don't think that is sustainable for two more months. He is such a vital part of their team on both ends of the court. With him, they are a big slow, grind it out team. Without him, they are old, slow and a bit one dimensional. Rising to the 5th seed would likely give us a 1st round match up against the Clippers. That's an interesting one. CP3 always plays well against us, but Lillard REALLY seems to like a challenge and would use that as motivation. For those that think Meyers Leonard is useless, he would be a very big factor against LAC. He has shown he's willing to body up on big, strong centers and get under their skin. That and his six fouls will prove valuable against Deandre Jordan. The real wild card is how Blake Griffin will re-integrate with the team when he comes back. Love him or hate him, the guy has talent and gives them another go-to scorer and a second NBA anointed superstar that will benefit from the post season officiating and Doc's constant whining. This would be the one area we would truly miss LaMarcus Aldridge. He's big enough to go head-to-head with Griffin on defense and long enough to shoot over him on offense. Basically, in the past Aldridge neutralized Griffin on both ends of the court. Without him, our guards and wings will have to really outplay their Clipper counterparts - and that will be a tough challenge. But, that's getting ahead of things. A lot of games still to be played. I think we'll get at least the 6th seed, possibly the 5th. And, to me, with this young team rolling into the playoffs on an upswing, full of confidence and believing they can beat anyone, is more important than who we actually play. We've recently seen what this team can do when they play with confidence and aggressively attack their opponents. That's the team I want to see in the playoffs regardless of our seeding and opponent. That's a fun team to watch and a team that is capable of beating anyone. BNM
If MEM does hold onto 5th and we end up 6th, I'd be OK with a POR/OKC match up. Westbrook is playing much more team oriented this year, but he has a long history of resorting to hero ball, especially in the playoffs, especially in the 4th quarter of close games - even when Kevin Durant is healthy. Westbrook is a prima donna that loves the spotlight and that's a problem (for OKC). When Westbrook tries to be the Batman and freezes out KD, OKC suffers. Westbrook is not a clutch finisher. He shoots a horrible percentage when he forces shots, commits a shot ton of unforced turnovers, commits stupid fouls and throws in the occasional inexplicable and necessary technical - all of which hurt OKC and benefit their opponent's. He needs to know when to hand the keys of the Batmobile to Durant, and the bigger the spotlight, the more unlikely that becomes And, again Lillard would rise to the challenge of playing an opposing PG who made the all star game ahead of him. BNM
We'll be in the 6th seed after Wednesday (we play BKN, DAL plays OKC) Beating OKC would have give Durant some thought of what we could be with him. We could go small ball against any lineup with Harkless or Amimu at the 4 and Vonleh, Davis or Meyers at the 5. I think that's what we'd have to do against SAS too. Go small, let them try to take advantage by giving LMA his fadeaway 2s, then get the rebound and beat LMA and Duncan back. There's no way any of there bigs are keeping up with Harkless, Plumlee, or Vonleh.. We'd need smallball for the speed to close the interior passing lanes that they love.
You beat me to that comment. I'm hoping the Blazers can get up to 5th or 6th, but I think the reality of the schedule will set in and we'll end up closer to the 8th seed. This team continues to exceed all of my expectations though for this season. I would love to see them match up against the Spurs. Oh sweet revenge!
Here is how I want things to end: 1 GS vs 8 HOU (I want them in the playoffs so they loose their pick, but to get wiped) 2 SA vs 7 POR (Agree with everyone else about going against LMA) 3 OKC vs 6 UTAH (Here by default) 4 LAC vs 5 MEM (I want Memphis to rough up the Clips) Dallas misses the playoffs because their OLD. Parsons then shops for the up & coming team with lots of cap space.
Well I don't see why. Everything he can do, Harkless can do better. He was supposed to be the most useful against "big, strong centers", but even against Utah and Gobert Harkless was ten times better.
Gobert is big, but skinny - not strong. No way in hell can Mo Harkless body up Deandre Jordan on the low block. It would be a lobfest and endless offensive rebounds for Jordan. Meyers certainly has flaws in his game, but he is our best defensive option against big, strong centers. He plays guys like Cousins and Gasol far better than anyone else on our roster. He's big enough and strong enough to frustrate those guys. We don't have anyone else on the roster like that. BNM
6th. But why would aim to dodge GS? They can't guard us. SA is the team I fear. GS, OKC, and LAC are easily beatable.
Probably a little pessimistic, but looking at the schedule in March, I think the amazing guard shooting that has been bailing us out in games like tonight comes back down to earth somewhat. I'm going to guess that one of Dallas and Memphis stays up and one of Houston or Utah passes Portland. Blazers finish 7th. Hoping for better, but trying to have realistic expectations.
I'm going with 5th as well..I think Jazz, Mavs and Rockets will be in the bottom at the end of regular season
