Because the team with best record gets HCA. Always. Even that one year where the top THREE seeds were the division winners. That year, Denver was the three seed and the Clippers were the 6 seed but the Clippers got HCA.
There will be changes, but to me, that would be perfect - especially if Jimmy Butler is back for the playoffs. I remember hearing at the time Butler went down that with him on the court, MIN was a top 5 defense, but without him they were dead last in defense. If he's back and 100%, and the Warriors are without Curry, that could be a pretty interesting 2-7 match up. Not saying MIN would beat GSW, but they could sure make them work to get out of the first round. Which would mean a more tired 2nd round opponent for POR, after we sweep OKC. It also means HOU would have to face the winner of the UTA/SAS series in the second round. BNM
With SA's loss the standings are: Blazers 48-30 (4 games to go) Jazz 45-33 (4 games to go) Spurs 45-34 (3 games to go) Seems to me, if we win 1 Stinkin' game, 3rd seed is ours. If Jazz win out, they end up with 49 wins, we have tiebreaker (I think). If Spurs win out, they end up with 48 wins, short of our 49. However, http://www.playoffstatus.com/nba/westernwinmagicnumbers.html says our magic number is 2. I don't really get why.
I think it's because Utah can win the tiebreaker against us. We're 1-2 against them this yer. If we win the last game vs UTA and our matchup at DEN (division record), we can win the tiebreaker.
As impossible as it could ever be for me to root for the Lakers I'm still glad they beat San Antonio, and in OT. Geriatric team must be tired.
Jazz can win 49 games and would have the tie breaker over Portland. Hence, magic number is 2. It can be either: 2 Portland wins (50 wins) or 1 Portland win & 1 Utah loss All Portland needs to do is beat Utah. If Portland beats Utah, we're guaranteed a minimum of 49 wins. With that loss, the best Utah could do is win 48 games. Denver game has no bearing on it.
If Golden State beats the Jazz, and Portland wins against Denver, the game against Portland won't matter. Regardless, Portland needs to stop losing.
Wow, you gotta feel bad for Minnesota. They haven't made the playoffs in 14 years and it's not looking good for them this year.
T-Wolves got Rose, remember ... Good luck with that. Butler would be a superstar in the Least ... oh well.
