4/15/08 - Mark this date on your calendar [updated standings] April 15, 2008 is the last day of the NBA regular season. The Rockets play Dallas at 7:00PM and Portland plays Denver two hours later. Who the Rockets play in the first round could be in the hands of whichever team wins or tanks that game. (The Jazz play the Lakers the night before, and the Hornets last game is 4 days earlier against the Mavs.) http://www.nba.com/mastercalendar/masterCalendar.html 1. Lakers 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - Dallas The Spurs, Nuggets, Rockets, Hornets, Jazz, and Blazers are 2nd-7th. What do you think the western conference will look like in the end? Update: If the Rockets beat Phoenix today, they are definitely out of the playoffs. I hope the Jazz fall to the 8th seed with their tough road schedule. It would be GREAT if Utah loses to the Lakers on the 14th, and it comes down to the Mavs game against the Rockets on the 15th and the Rockets LET THE MAVS WIN!
I agree, there are so many possibilities. If the Rockets end up facing Utah for the 3rd straight year, I will be pissed. The Rockets are third because the NBA added something new to the rule which says tied division leaders are guaranteed a top 3 seed. I want Denver too because they can't match up with the Rockets at all. Yao >>> Nene Scola = Camby Artest & Battier < Melo but they can make him miss and take bad shots to get his 20 Artest & Wafer > Jones/Smith Brooks & Lowry< Billups but they are a fast combo to throw at him Individual matchups are key in a 7 game series. In the playoffs, players are exposed and taken advantage of. If the Rockets don't get Denver (95% they won't with Denvers easy schedule), I want the Blazers, Hornets, Spurs, then Utah. The Jazz are built to beat teams like the Rockets.
lol when I posted that I was like wait..... But yeah, I confuse Camby with Kenyon Martin when talking about the Nuggets 4 because Martin never plays. Camby > Scola Martin = Scola
Scola>>>>Martin! Blazers scare me sometimes considering their young talent and leadership by Brandon Roy, but I think with their lack of playoff experience, we could take them in 5-6 games. Hornets would be a great matchup, but again the PG matchup may decide the series. Spurs would be fun and challenging to watch. Jazz would be another pissy matchup with their floppers. Nuggets are our best matchup, Melo and Billups can't kill us alone.
In order of whom I don't want to face the most: 1) Portland 2) Utah 3) New Orleans 4) Denver 5) Dallas/Phoenix Portland always renders Yao ineffective on offense, and if we can't get it to him we'll see Ron take 40 shots each game. Also, we all know what Roy can do. If we do get Portland it'll be up to Rick to come up with a way to get the ball to Yao. We can take Utah, but it'll be another 7-game series. Any extra game that Yao plays cannot be good.
I have no confidence at all in us beating the Lakers or Jazz. Portland, New Orleans, Denver, and Dallas don't scare me. Artest usually does a good job defensively on Roy.
I think the main problem Portland poses is their defense on Yao. Yao has shot horribly against Portland this year; Przybilla especially fronts him well and discourages the Rockets from going to Yao. Defensively, Artest and Battier can disrupt Roy but Portland has so many weapons (Aldridge, Outlaw, Batum, Oden, Webster, Fernandez) to attack us. A pairing with Portland is looking more and more likely, with them having homecourt at 4-5.
Pryzbilla is a big time flopper, though. I don't think he'll get the benefit of those calls against the Rockets over the course of a playoff series. Actually, I think I'd rather play Portland without home court advantage than Utah with it.
I see where you're coming from, but Utah has flopped for the past two playoff series against. Since this will be Portland's first playoff appearance in a while, their homecourt advantage will be almost as good as Utah's. That could also sway the whistles to go their way.
Well, Golden State upset Utah in Salt Lake tonight so it looks like they'll finish 8th and get the Lakers in the first round.
So basically. If Rockets lose, they play Blazers, if they win they get the Hornets. If Rockets lose, and Portland wins, we'll play Portland but Portland will have homecourt. So if we can win, and hope for a Spurs loss, then we'll play Hornets with a homecourt advantage. WOOHOOO!
if the rockets win and portland wins, the rockets get the 2 seed and play the mavs. and the rockets losing doesn't mean they play portland. if the rockets and spurs both lose, the rockets will end up playing either the spurs(if portland wins) or the hornets(if portland loses too).
Best possibility I can think of is us winning at Dallas, and Portland beating Nuggets AT HOME. That will give us 2nd seed and Dallas would be 7th.
Dallas could be somewhat dangerous. Josh Howard is back and you know Jason Kidd will have a big series against Brooks and Lowry. Best matchup is probably New Orleans. Paul could go off but we've beaten them both at home and in New Orleans. The big win over them on Monday night will also boost our confidence.
