The race for Home Court Advantage (1 Viewer)

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TBpup

TBpup

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Huge win against the Warriors, a payback beat down on the Jazz and a 'had-to-have-it' win against the Suns that Dame pulls out because, .....well, Dame.

The #3-#6 seeds are separated by 1 loss. The T-Wolves are at #3 by way of having the most wins at 37 which is 4 ahead of the Blazers. Portland is going to have to win a lot of games to catch them but they've given themselves a chance.

MIN: 37-26...next @ Sac
SAS: 35-25....next @ Cavs
DEN: 33-26...next vs Hou
POR: 33-26...next vs Sac
OKC: 34-27....next vs Orl

I would expect after the next round of games for it to look something like this:

MIN: 38-26
SAS: 35-26
POR: 34-26
DEN: 33-27
OKC: 35-27

There is very little margin for error for the Blazers and they can't play like they did against the awful Suns and get away with that type of effort very often no matter how Herculean Dame is.

HUGE game March 1 when the Blazers host the T-Wolves.

Game on!
 
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Still don't belive in home court Advantage, this Team is too inconsistant
 
Labinot41 said:
Me too, but everyone except Lillard is too inconsistant
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Stotts teams have always played better in March than November...he's not running the vets into the ground all season like Nate did....we have played our best ball after the allstar break pretty consistently since his second season here.
 
Labinot41 said:
Still don't belive in home court Advantage, this Team is too inconsistant
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As I said, the teams in front of us are also inconsistent. Right now, if we pass Spurs, we have HCA. Spurs have been playing really badly and face Cleveland tomorrow and will probably get blown out.
 
riverman said:
Stotts teams have always played better in March than November...he's not running the vets into the ground all season like Nate did....we have played our best ball after the allstar break pretty consistently since his second season here.
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Yep. The 2014-15 season was kind of tough to take though. We were like 30-8 and then went on a huge losing skid that has fall to the 6th best record in the West though we got 4 seed since we won the division. Yes, Wes got hurt but the downward spiral had started long before he got hurt. The 2013-14 season was weird. We were 24-5 and had the best record in the NBA and just played awful. Aldridge missed some games and we almost missed the playoffs but then Aldridge came back and we won like 8 of our last 10 games and then beat the Rockets in the playoffs of court. 2015-16 and 2016-17, we were definitely late bloomers though. And hopefully this year.
 
KingSpeed said:
Yep. The 2014-15 season was kind of tough to take though. We were like 30-8 and then went on a huge losing skid that has fall to the 6th best record in the West though we got 4 seed since we won the division. Yes, Wes got hurt but the downward spiral had started long before he got hurt. The 2013-14 season was weird. We were 24-5 and had the best record in the NBA and just played awful. Aldridge missed some games and we almost missed the playoffs but then Aldridge came back and we won like 8 of our last 10 games and then beat the Rockets in the playoffs of court. 2015-16 and 2016-17, we were definitely late bloomers though. And hopefully this year.
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@KingSpeed: Please, please, please stop saying that the Blazers were on a downward spiral when Wes got hurt. I have mentioned this to you in other threads but the Dallas game he got hurt in was their 5th win in a row, 4 of which were against playoff teams in the West. They absolutely had a shot at the 2nd seed.

They were 44-20 at one point before the wheels fell off. They finished 51-31. That is 7-11 the last 18 games. They were a way better team than that.
 
hoopsjock said:
@KingSpeed: Please, please, please stop saying that the Blazers were on a downward spiral when Wes got hurt. I have mentioned this to you in other threads but the Dallas game he got hurt in was their 5th win in a row, 4 of which were against playoff teams in the West. They absolutely had a shot at the 2nd seed.

They were 44-20 at one point before the wheels fell off. They finished 51-31. That is 7-11 the last 18 games. They were a way better team than that.
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Seriously. I still remember that Dallas game. I was telling myself that we looked like a contender. Then wes got hurt and I took that as a lesson to shut the hell up lol. But it’s stuck with me. Everything was clicking. Afflalo was settling in off the bench. Then bam, season over. It’s why I try and enjoy every game and not look too far ahead.
 
hoopsjock said:
@KingSpeed: Please, please, please stop saying that the Blazers were on a downward spiral when Wes got hurt. I have mentioned this to you in other threads but the Dallas game he got hurt in was their 5th win in a row, 4 of which were against playoff teams in the West. They absolutely had a shot at the 2nd seed.

They were 44-20 at one point before the wheels fell off. They finished 51-31. That is 7-11 the last 18 games. They were a way better team than that.
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Sorry. We went 6-11 (6 wins 11 losses) in the 17 games before that 5 game win streak you speak of. We were horrible. Horrible. And it was awful as a fan to watch that after a great start. Yes, we squeaked out a home win against OKC (I was there actually) and beat the Clippers in OT but we were hardly sudden title contenders. The Warriors and Cavs were a class above. And quite frankly, with Wes down, after that streak, we shouldn't have gone in the toilet. We still had two All Stars and a decent Wes replacement in Afflalo (not to mention CJ waiting in the wings to break out). Going 10-12 to end the season, even without Wes, was shameful.
 
Scalma said:
Seriously. I still remember that Dallas game. I was telling myself that we looked like a contender. Then wes got hurt and I took that as a lesson to shut the hell up lol. But it’s stuck with me. Everything was clicking. Afflalo was settling in off the bench. Then bam, season over. It’s why I try and enjoy every game and not look too far ahead.
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It shouldn't have been over. Wes was our third or fourth best player. In 2011, Dallas lost their SECOND best player and still won the title. We had Dame/Aldridge/Batum. Should've won more than half our games.
 
KingSpeed said:
It shouldn't have been over. Wes was our third or fourth best player. In 2011, Dallas lost their SECOND best player and still won the title. We had Dame/Aldridge/Batum. Should've won more than half our games.
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Who was Dallas 2nd best player... Caron Butler...? Lol.
 
KingSpeed said:
Sorry. We went 6-11 (6 wins 11 losses) in the 17 games before that 5 game win streak you speak of. We were horrible. Horrible. And it was awful as a fan to watch that after a great start. Yes, we squeaked out a home win against OKC (I was there actually) and beat the Clippers in OT but we were hardly sudden title contenders. The Warriors and Cavs were a class above. And quite frankly, with Wes down, after that streak, we shouldn't have gone in the toilet. We still had two All Stars and a decent Wes replacement in Afflalo (not to mention CJ waiting in the wings to break out). Going 10-12 to end the season, even without Wes, was shameful.
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This whole post only makes sense with the benefit of hindsight. Pretty much all of the downward spiral you speak of happened prior to the Afflalo trade. The Blazers had a historically bad bench. Trading for a quality player like Afflalo did make a huge difference. Wes going down moved Afflalo into the starting lineup and made our bench even worse since we had traded Barton and T-Rob. Afflalo got hurt too, you forgot that fact. CJ had been injured for portions of his first two seasons as well and wasn't ready to breakout quite yet. Wes was the heart and soul of that team. When he went down everyone knew that season was over. To say otherwise is changing the narrative after the fact.

The Warriors hadn't won shit up until that point other than ONE playoff series against the Nuggets two years prior. Not one person thought they would be this good. The Cavs hadn't ever won a title either so you can't just hand them a title.
 
So the downward spiral was a grand total of 11-11? I guess the phrase 'downward spiral' means different things to different people.
 
Next 5 games:

Wolves: @Kings, @Blazers, @Jazz, vs Celtics, vs Warriors. ------Maybe 2-3? Could be 1-4. Very tough stretch for MIN.
Spurs: @Cavs, vs Pels, vs Lakers, vs Grizzlies, @ Warriors. -------Likely 3-2
Blazers: vs Kings, vs Wolves, vs Thunder, @lakers, vs Knicks ---At least 4-1 if not 5-0. POR needs a hot stretch here as tough teams are coming up.
Nuggets: vs Rockets, vs Clips, @Grizzlies, @Cavs, @Mavs --------Probably 3-2
Thunder: vs Magic, @Mavs, @Suns, @Blazers, vs Rockets -------3-2 or possibly 4-1.

By the end of the first week of March, the standings could easily look something like this if Portland takes care of the games they should win.

Spurs 38-27
Blazers 38-27 (going 4-1...I think they can/should go 5-0 and be 39-26)
Wolves - 39-29
Nuggets 36-28
Thunder 37-29

To have a shot at #3, they need a 5-0 stretch against the Thunder at home and 4 garbage teams. If they falter in this stretch, it will be very tough as games against the Rockets, Warriors, Cavs and Celtics are coming up.
 
KingSpeed said:
It shouldn't have been over. Wes was our third or fourth best player. In 2011, Dallas lost their SECOND best player and still won the title. We had Dame/Aldridge/Batum. Should've won more than half our games.
Click to expand...

This is a different argument than “Blazers where on a downward spiral long before Wes got hurt.”

And Wes was the heart and soul of that team.
 
Remaining Schedule:

VS SAC Feb. 27 - sub .500
VS MIN Mar. 1 +.500 WCP (DR)
VS OKC Mar. 3 +.500 WCP (DR)
@ LAL Mar. 5 sub .500
VS NYK Mar. 6 sub .500
VS GWS Mar. 9 + .500 WCP (chmps)
VS MIA Mar. 12 + .500 ECP
VS CLE Mar. 15 +.500 ECP
VS DET Mar. 17 sub .500 (poss. ECP)
@ LAC Mar. 18 +.500 (poss. WCP)
VS HOU Mar. 20 +.500 WCP
VS BOS Mar. 23 +.500 ECP
@OKC Mar. 25 +.500 WCP (DR)
@NOP Mar. 27 +.500 WCP
@MEM Mar. 28 sub .500
VS LAC Mar. 30 +.500 (Poss. WCP)
VS MEM Apr. 1 sub .500
@DAL Apr. 3 sub .500
@HOU Apr. 5 +.500 WCP
@SAS Apr. 7 + .500 WCP
@ DEN Apr. 9 + .500 WCP (DR)
VS JAZZ Apr. 11 +.500 (Poss. WCP) (DR)

*DR = Division Rival
*WCP = Western Conference playoff team
*ECP = Eastern Conference playoff team

22 Games Remaing

13 Home:

9 VS +.500 teams

4 VS sub .500 teams

9 Away:

6 VS +.500 teams
3 VS sub. 500 teams

5 games VS division rivals:

3 Home
2 Away

15 games VS. +.500 teams
7 games VS. Sub .500 teams

17 VS Western conference teams
5 vs Eastern conference teams

2 back to back

3 sets of 5 games in 8 days

1 set of 5 games in 7 days

Series Standings W\ Remaining Teams:

GP RG
VS Kings 2-1 (H@-@) 1H
VS MIN 1-2 (H-@@) 1H
VS OKC 2-0 (H@- ) 2H@
VS LAL 2-0 (H@ - ) 1@
VS NYK 1-0 ( @ - ) 1H
VS GSW 1-1 ( H - @) 1H
VS MIA 1-0 (@ - ) 1H
VS CAV 0-1 ( - @) 1H
VS DET 0-1 ( - @) 1H
VS LAC 1-1 (@ - H) 2@H
VS HOU 0-2 ( - H@) 2H@
VS BOS 0-1 ( - @) 1H
VS NOP 1-2 (H- H@) 1@
VS MEM 1-1 (A -H) 2@H
VS DAL 2-0 (H@ - ) 1@
VS SAS 1-1 (H - H) 1@
VS DEN 1-2 (H - H@) 1@
VS JAZZ 1-2 (A - HA) 1H

Blazers lead 6 series:

2 VS + .500 teams

4 Vs sub .500 teams


Blazers tied in 4 series:

3 VS + .500 teams

1 VS Sub .500 teams


Blazers trail in 8 series:

7 VS + .500 teams

1 VS sub .500 teams








 
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