I'm not sure which team I want to see in the first round. So, I'm thinking about seeding, instead. Do I want to finish #3 seed or #4 seed? The #4 seed, if they win, plays the #1 seed (assuming they win). Similarly, the #3 seed plays the #2 seed (again, both of them win). Right now the Rockets are ahead of GS by 2 wins. Anything can happen, but my guess is that GS cares more about health than having the best record. So, I'm going to assume Houston finishes with the #1 seed. OK, I'm going Full @KingSpeed here, worrying about the 2nd round before the first, but here it goes: Assuming Houston and Golden State are healthy, which of the them would you like to face in the 2nd round. For myself, I really don't know, so I'm interested in the opinions (and reasons) of others.
I think Houston will be an easier out than GSW. D'Antoni teams don't fair well in the playoffs. Therefore I'd rather face Houston in the 2nd round.
Houston doesn't scare me at all. I'd rather play them in the second round but so much to the point that I'd rather have the 4th seed. I want the highest seed possible. The only team in West that scares me is a Spurs team with a healthy Kawhi. Looks like they may not make playoffs. I suppose a Minnesota team with Butler could cause us trouble but we don't know how good will Butler be when he comes back. OKC, Denver, Utah, Clippers, and New Orleans don't scare me at all.
I would rather play Houston. CP3 is a choke artist. Harden's game is built around getting to the line, as proven the first time we played them in the postseason. We can beat this team. I'm much more scared of Curry and Durant.
Until we officially lock up HC advantage for the first round I just want to play anyone in the second round don't care who.
Can you guys imagine if we got the Clippers in the first round? That's still in play. I think we'd have a chance at sweeping them. I do like the idea of a Houston/LAC first round matchup though.
GSW. I just can't stand to watch Harden bastardize the game, or CP3 bitch, whine, and play dirty. Even if we might have a better shot at beating them, it would be a miserable experience to have to watch those two for 4-7 games in a row. I don't like Klay, Durant, or Green either...or Curry's smug little face. But they at least (mostly) play basketball rather than whatever you wanna call whatever it is that Harden does.
Houston would be an easier matchup for us. I honestly hope Houston play Spurs (with Kawhi) and Warriors play Thunder in the first round, this could end up with one or even both of them going out.
The Blazers have beaten the Warriors twice recently and by a convincing margin. If the Blazers keep playing as they have been in the better parts of this 10 game winning streak, including aggressive defense, limited turnovers, shooting more (at least 14 or more) swish3s, the Blazers can win 4 of the 7 playoff games against the Warriors. That semifinal series will be the ramp up for the win of the Western Conference Championship against the Rockets, on the way to winning the NBA Championship. The opportunity is here!
We won't win a 7 series against fully healthy Warriors, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Rockets maybe, Warriors no.