To be a third seed, we'd have to finish ahead of OKC, no? So you're saying we're going to be better than OKC this year?
I'll say 46 wins, 7th seed in the West, with a first-round loss (taking the series to the max, though). These are my realistic expectations. Sometimes, players and teams gel and really reach their potential. If Portland does this (i.e. key guys stay healthy, Dame takes the big step forward he appears to be taking, our bench continuing to contribute, and Batum playing with more consistency), I could see them winning 52-54 games and either winning home court advantage or just missing out on it (i.e. 4-5 seed). I think this is their potential for the year, but I think my first is what I should realistically expect.
I thought you can still lose the division and still get the third seed? The winners of the division are guaranteed a top 4 spot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_playoffs
That's what I thought, but Tone called out Rice on Courtside last night about some seeding prediction that was similar to yours. So now I'm just confused. I know there was the rule if Team A finished lower seeding-wise despite having the better record than Team B, Team A gets home court advantage in the event of a head-to-head matchup with Team B. Is that still the case? I don't follow these types of things much anymore (they've been irrelevant to the Blazers for so long).
Well let's say "team A" won the division but was 5th worst. They would be the 4th seed, but have to play on the road against the 5th seed.
I was referring to winning the division, let alone finishing ahead of Houston and Flop City. But I do love and appreciate Mags' enthusiasm/blind homerism. He's always so excited about the Blazers, and magasming everywhere. I can respect that.
I think this will be the year SAS is a 5th-8th seed. There pattern has always been good the following year! As for Houston…. Harden is a stud, Howard could be a stud but fails under pressure. I can see this team either being #1 or drop all the way to #6. I'm not banking on any Houston bandwagon as of yet…
Bill Simmons podcast today said there has been heavy action on the over of the 38.5 win line on sportsbook.com. Both BS and his buddy agree on taking the over.
Low end: 49 wins. Depending on matchups, WCF. I'm not scared of anyone in the West, including OKC sans Westbrook or LAC (Batum can slow down CP3, and LMA can hang with Blake). GSW can get hot, but when you're counting on health from Curry or Bogut, I'm not sure they're way better than us. DEN? SAS should be primed to slow down on of these years, but I'm not betting against them. I can't get a good handle on HOU. They should be awesome, but I don't know yet. I don't think that roster's set, and I think they're a DwightMare back injury away from being Golden State. MIN might be frisky, but when they can beat us more than twice in a decade I'll reevaluate. I think the L*kers are D-U-N. MEM is good, and they might beat us in a series, but I'm scared of them. In short, the prognosticators and experts keep saying that the West is waaaay better this year, but I don't see a team I fear like the 2011 Thunder or a prime Spurs team. HOU could be (and I think LAC is fools' gold, and that Doc isn't as smart as everyone thinks he is, but if CP3 can stay healthy on one meniscus he's all-time great). I just don't see it. What am I missing?
Isn't Russell supposed to come back in December? I think the impact of his early season absence is a bit overstated. Rather, I think losing a legit 15ppg scorer and shooter (and not getting anything at all in return) in KMart will hurt more. Reggie Jackson is a decent backup, but he's worse than Mo. And Jeremy Lamb is not going to contribute. So they got KD/RW/and Ibaka. Still good enough for 50-55wins, but definitely not striking the fear they used to.
I think Stotts really found something in the GS game. Batum completely shut down Curry in the third quarter. In fact, Curry only scored the one time Batum wasn't on him. It was a thing of beauty!!!! I hope Batum becomes that wing stopper. We really need one
