Those people don't know anymore about hoops than the majority of you guys on here. Trust me. Just because they throw on a suit they got free when they bought a set of tools from Home Depot doesn't make them experts!
The truth of the matter is that most people here know more about BLAZERS basketball than anyone else in the world - expert or not. Of course, we can't include you in that statement.
So out of Memphis, Houston, Dallas, & Utah -> Who do you want to miss the playoffs? It's Dallas for me. It's going to be hard though. I personally want the Spurs to get the hardest match-up which would be the Rockets (if they decide to play together) or the Jazz. I also want the Rockets to loose their pick (which happens if they make the playoffs). So, tonight I am cheering for the Suns to loose. (I feel dirty saying that...) Tomorrow I want Grizz to win (against Dallas) & also the Jazz (against Clips).
Uhhh, we want the Grizz to lose so we can get 5th seed. Who cares about the rest of the teams. And Houston can just flat out lose. I don't care.
Yeah I'm gonna root for Memphis to lose tomorrow. Those Warriors games looked like automatic losses before. Now it's possible they rest guys, or flat out win as the Wolves did. Clippers will probably lose to Memphis on purpose. Dallas still has a real tough game at Utah; and the last game of the season against the Spurs, whom are deep enough to be a threat no matter who they rest. They play those Spurs on the final day of the season two and a half hours before us. So if we can pass Memphis first we will know the day of our last game if we need to win to stay ahead of Dallas. Memphis plays the Warriors same time as us the final game of the season. We will have the tiebreaker with Memphis for certain. It's mathematically impossible for us to be tied in the standings but with the same or worse conference record. Jay Allen wasn't sure of this on the 5th quarter last night.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-nba-picks/ Go to the date drop down menu and pick December 24 from the date list. I want to show you something. Look at Houston, Memphis, Dallas, And Utah's predicted seasons. Those are pretty damn accurate. Now look at Portland. Thanks, Dame!
Heard during the broadcast last night that Curry will sit against Memphis. We need the Grizz to drop at least one game, preferably two. The Clips will likely let Memphis win. Clippers want to make sure they finish behind Toronto and stay at pick #55 in the second round; they get to swap it with Brooklyn if so. If they fall to #56 they don't get to swap. Plus they'd probably not face us in round 1. We may see the Warriors rest guys the final game of the season against Memphis too. Definitely going to root for Dallas to beat Memphis tonight.
Can the Mavericks still get 5th seed if they win out and we drop our last 2? What about same scenario but we win 1 of our last 2? Thanks.
Dallas has the tie breaker, so if they have the same number of losses at the end of the season - they get the higher seed. Right now, Portland has 37 losses & Dallas has 38. If Portland looses 1 game & Dallas wins out - they will have the 5th seed (assuming Memphis tanks).
So in that case I think I would rather have MEM beat DAL tonight then lose the Warriors in the next game.
Dallas has a real difficult game at Utah on a back to back; they likely lose that. If Grizz somehow beat Warriors in Memphis than its likely the Warriors rest everyone on the last game. Clippers will lose on purpose to give Memphis 5th. In that scenario; with a win tonight Memphis could have the opportunity to win out. They would then get the 5th seed regardless of what we do. Another element; the last day of the season Memphis plays the same time as us while Dallas will have finished. If we need one team to lose to wrap up the 5th I'd rather have it be Dallas that night so we know at tipoff if we can rest starters. If we can't beat the TWolves and Nuggets at home to clinch the 5th seed we really don't deserve it. I want us to for sure have that opportunity. Once we have that I'll worry about getting the buffer for a practice game to finish the season. You can make a case for either team winning tonight but I'm heavily rooting for Dallas to beat Memphis.
I would put a LOT more money on Dallas beating Utah (this game is a 50/50 bet) than Memphis winning either game against GS (15% chance Memphis wins one of the 2 games).
Houston isnt gonna make it!!! HAHAHAHAHA They are gonna blow it up. Do we have a use for Corey Brwer? ABout the only guy on the team I think could help us.
Oh if I was betting I would too. But we need Grizz to lose; we don't need a Dallas loss. To me; it's more a question of what the worst possible outcome would be and avoiding that; not the most likely outcome.
Dallas beats Memphis. Still 2 games left for us. To get the 5th seed we need the following; If we win both; we are the 5th seed!!! If we win one and lose one: 1 Memphis loss 1 Dallas loss If we lose both: 2 Memphis losses 2 Dallas losses If we win tomorrow against Minnesota and the Grizz lose to the Warriors we will finish above them. So then we will have clinched the 5th or 6th seed. Our magic number would be one. There would be 3 Mavs games left and 1 Blazer game left. Any Mavs loss on Sunday at the Clippers, Monday at Utah or Wednesday hosting the Spurs would give us the 5th seed and let our Blazers have an easy meaningless practice game to end the season. Go Blazers!
Cole Alrich with a huge basket to send the Clips/Jazz to OT. The guy should be starting somewhere. He is another example of a late bloomer at center. Got to root for the Jazz to lose tonight. They have an easy schedule left
