Now that Ginobili is done for the year, there isn't any team that I really fear in the West other than the Lakers. Therefore, the primary goal for the last five games is avoiding that 8th spot. If the Jazz win in Dallas on Wednesday, it all but guarantees that we avoid the bottom seed in the playoffs - the Jazz would own a two-game lead and the tiebreaker. We'd have to crap out on a home game against Golden State or the Clippers, and we never lose at home to bad teams. Oh, wait...
However, if we lose on Wednesday, things get dicey. Losing leaves us tied with the Mavs for seventh, with the Jazz owning the tiebreaker due to our stellar division record. The Mavs remaining schedule features a series with the Hornets and finishes with the T-Wolves and Rockets at home. Meanwhile, the Jazz have to go on the road to San Antonio (where we haven't won since the 1950s) and Los Angeles with home games against the Clips and Warriors. Thus, assuming both teams win their home games and lose on the road, the Mavs are looking to finish 3-1 while the Jazz are looking at 2-2. That means we end up in the 8th spot.
Of course, the Jazz could steal one on the road, or the Mavs could fall at home. But, to be on the safe side, the Jazz really could use a Texas road win on Wednesday.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
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3 comments:
Dicey is right. It's a huge game tonight. It'll be interesting to see what happens with that New Orleans/Dallas mini-series... since those are the two closest teams to us.
No worries now because we ROCKED the Mavs last night.
Honestly, we deserve the 8th if we can't even get up for games like this (not to mention the T-Wolves at home).
At least the Spurs are falling apart even more quickly than we are. If ever we're going to steal one in San Antonio, now is our chance.
Quite effective info, thank you for the post.
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