Our biggest road wins. Orlando (By far the biggest) Detroit (They suck now) New Orleans (No CP3 in the final quarter) Hell, I think that's it. You NEED to win games to the road in the playoffs, and so far, Portland has shown a knack of getting crushed on the road. Blowout losses to the Suns, Jazz, Lakers, Mavs (Yes, it wasn't really that close), and Celtics prove this (and almost to the Hornets too). Yes, those are all good teams, but you aren't going to face shitty teams in the playoffs. Therefore, I don't think we're a contender.
That's proof that maybe we can beat the Cavs without LeBron or the Lakers without Kobe. Tonight was our first true test of a veteran team at full strength and we failed.
So we lose ONE true test by 5 points and that means we're done? That means we can't get better as the season goes on? And earn homecourt advantage in the first round therby meaning that we don't even HAVE to win on the road to win a series?
If we beat a healthy San Antonio or Houston or Cleveland on the road, will you change your tune and make us a contender merely on one test???
The final margin was 5 points, but this loss really wasn't close. It doesn't mean we are done by any stretch, but it doesn't indicate that we are a serious contender (which is the title of this thread). We've got a chance ot see this team match up with the Hornets (before CP3 goes down) and the Mavs on the road. I'm not that encouraged at the mettle of this team against veteran teams.
Beating the Spurs or Cavs on the road would be HUGE. Those are elite teams contending for the title this season. Beating the Rockets would be nice, but they are a team in turmoil right now.
