Wow, BIG night for changes! This is GREAT for the Blazers! Who would expect this on a Monday. Everyone around us in the standings lost.
Are you sure about that? If we win on Thursday, the season series will be 2-2. We are currently tied in conference record but would pass them with that same win.
Too bad Oden missed those free throws in the HOME game against Denver. We'd be passing the Denver in the standings on Thursday.
Oden didn't miss any free throws in that game. Outlaw missed a bunch of shots, though! Thank goodness Portland shipped him before he could cost us more playoff position, eh?
I said it before and I'll say it again: I think we end up in the 6th spot. I think SA ends up in 7th and OKC ends up in 8th and is swept by the Fake Show. My reasoning is that after two seasons of reaching for the playoffs, our core guys know what it means to increase your intensity at the end of the season. Not counting the WAS and PHX game which seemed to be a mini-slump where our shots weren't falling, we're playing some terrific basketball. Marcus is finding his place and our rotation is finally settling down. When I put myself in the shoes of the teams in slots 1-4, I look at Portland and think that's a team I want to avoid (unless I'm Jerry Sloan). SA--despite last night's silly loss--knows how to close a season. I think they've been playing some "statement" games and tuning up for playoff basketball. I don't think they catch us because their schedule is more difficult, but I think they go into the playoffs strong. OKC has played some really good basketball, but they're where we were two years ago. They have to learn the tough lesson of playoff-level basketball. OKC is best as a disruptive, open court, free flowing team. We ground them down Sunday night. They're going to have to learn the lesson that end of season basketball is a whole different animal. As a result I think they slip down to 8th.
A Lakers/Thunder 1st round matchup would be a jizz-fest for ESPN. KOBE!!!! DURANT!!!! NEXT!!!!!! Oh wait, that was NBC.
I am still optimistic about the Blazers moving up, again. Denver is only 2 games out in the loss column and we play them once more. We have tiebreakers vs OKC and San Antonio.
