Offical 2009-10 NBA Season Thread

[chiefwiggum]

It's Orlando's year

 

[yeeupp]

Originally Posted by ChiefWiggum

It's Orlando's year

Cavs

I hope Thunder and Bobcats upset a few teams tho

 

[bangdak]

Originally Posted by YEEUPP

Originally Posted by ChiefWiggum

It's Orlando's OKC year

Cavs

I hope Thunder and Bobcats upset a few teams tho

fixed again.

 

[datznasty]

Terrible loss tonight. 2 3way ties in the West, this is unbelievable

 

[datznasty]

http://www.cbssports.com/...er&_1:col_1=1&_1:col_2=3

Didn't know Lopez and Durant had that many dunks. SUrprised to see ZBo got so many. I'd like to see the video of them.

 

[billy hoyle]

didnt think Durant would have that many

 

[do be doo]

Tonight's OKC vs Portland game will be big for both teams...and the Spurs

I just can't decide who to root for...

Guess I will just wait and see how it plays out.










  

 

[i nasmatic i]

Brandon Roy sitting out tonight.

 

[dlo13]

The East still has to decide the 3-4, 5-6, and 8 spots...

...but with the West still so wide open, nobody cares.

Carry on.

 

[airjordan jb23]

Lopez has had a lot of dunks this year

 

[billy hoyle]

glad Roy is sitting out, should be an easy win IMO.

 

[CP1708]

How fitting is it that Blazers playoff positioning comes against Durant? 

 

[frink85]

the most confusing Hollinger article ever...and that's saying something

Good read nonetheless...the West is wilder than we thought

When it comes to playoff pairings, here is what we know: Orlando is almost certainly playing Charlotte.

Here is what we don't know: Everything else.

All of our assumptions flipped upside down after several unexpected results over the weekend, including San Antonio losing at home to Memphis, Boston losing at home to Washington, Miami losing at home to Detroit, the Lakers losing at home to Portland, and the Thunder punting a 20-point lead at Golden State.

So let's try this again and see if we can sort out who might be playing whom when the playoffs begin Saturday afternoon.

[h3]West No. 8[/h3]
Let's start at the bottom of the West, because we could know at least one more matchup Monday night. If the Blazers beat Oklahoma City and San Antonio beats Minnesota, then the Thunder clinch the No. 8 seed and play the top-seeded Lakers in the first round. If that happens, the Blazers would be No. 6 and the Spurs No. 7, unless the Blazers lost to Golden State and the Spurs beat Dallas on Wednesday, in which case they'd flip spots.

If Oklahoma City beats Portland on Monday night, the Thunder likely will avoid the Lakers but won't win the No. 6 seed unless they beat Memphis on Wednesday and San Antonio loses at least once. If that happens and the Blazers beat Golden State on Wednesday, the Thunder are No. 6, the Blazers No. 7, and the Spurs are No. 8. If San Antonio also wins out, then the Spurs are No. 6, the Thunder No. 7 and the Blazers No. 8.

Oklahoma City could win and still end up No. 8 if it loses to Memphis, if Portland beats Golden State, and if San Antonio loses once, producing a three-way tie that would propel Portland to No. 6 and San Antonio to No. 7.

---

[h3]West No. 2[/h3]
That was the simple one -- now let's try to sort out positions 2-5. I've been saying for a while that Phoenix probably needs to win its season finale against Utah to get home court in the first round, but Denver has lost enough that it's no longer the case: If the Suns beat Denver at home Tuesday and lose in Utah on Wednesday, Phoenix likely would host the Nuggets in the first round. The only way it wouldn't happen is if Utah lost to Golden State on Tuesday and the Nuggets won Monday against Memphis; in that event, the Suns would finish fifth, Utah fourth and Denver third.

At the top, Dallas is in control of the race for the No. 2 seed but must beat the Clippers on Monday night and San Antonio on Wednesday to maintain it. If the Mavs drop one of those games, Utah can usurp No. 2 by winning out and having Denver lose at least once; if Denver also wins out, however, the Mavs would hang on to No. 2, Denver would get No. 3 and Utah No. 4.

The Nuggets and Suns have slim odds at No. 2, as both would need Dallas to lose twice and then win out to get it. In any case, Dallas cannot finish lower than third because Denver, Phoenix and Utah all play each other. Actually, Dallas can lose twice and still get the No. 2 seed; it would need Denver, Phoenix and Utah to each lose once.

Utah has the widest range of possibilities. The Jazz could face a swing between Nos. 2 and 5 hinging on the result of the Phoenix game Wednesday, which is the last meaningful game of the regular season. That situation would happen if Dallas lost once, if Denver lost to Phoenix and beat Memphis, and if the Jazz beat Golden State on Tuesday -- a fairly likely scenario. In that event, a Utah win would make it Jazz No. 2, Mavs No 3, Suns No. 4, Nuggets No. 5; but a Jazz loss would make it Mavs No. 2, Suns No. 3, Nuggets No. 4, Jazz No. 5.

Denver can win the division and the No. 3 seed by winning its last two games, or splitting and having Utah lose at least once. If the Nuggets lose to Phoenix on Tuesday and Utah doesn't drop one of its last two, the Nuggets will open the playoffs on the road. But if the Jazz falter against Phoenix on Wednesday and the Nuggets beat Memphis on Monday, Denver will be the division champ anyway and host the Jazz in the 4-5 series.

Phoenix is unlikely to claim the No. 2 slot but will be the No. 3 seed by winning out. A split likely would put Phoenix fourth, probably hosting either Denver or Utah (whatever team it beats, basically, since these are the Suns' last two opponents) in the first round. If the Suns drop both games, they're definitely fifth.

If you're trying to figure out what the West first-round pairings might be, let's focus for a second on the most likely scenario. That has all of our eight hopefuls beating the non-playoff teams left on their schedule, plus Phoenix beating Denver, plus Utah beating Phoenix; in both those cases the road team is on a back-to-back. That would lock up a Phoenix-Denver pairing in the first round as the 4-5 pairing.

If all that comes to fruition -- even though this past weekend showed us the danger of assumptions, but just play along -- we're left with our pairings hinging on two games: Oklahoma City-Portland and Dallas-San Antonio.

If Oklahoma City and Dallas win, we're looking at (1) Lakers vs. (

San Antonio, (2) Dallas vs. (7) Portland, and (3) Utah vs. (6) Oklahoma City.

If Portland and Dallas win, it's (1) Lakers vs. (

Oklahoma City, (2) Dallas vs. (7) San Antonio, and (3) Utah vs. (6) Portland.

If Oklahoma City and San Antonio win, it's (1) Lakers vs. (

Portland, (2) Utah vs. (7) Oklahoma City, and (3) Dallas vs. (6) San Antonio.

And if Portland and San Antonio win, it's (1) Lakers vs. (

Oklahoma City, (2) Utah vs. No. (7) San Antonio, and (3) Dallas vs. (6) Portland.

The one interesting item from the above chart is that a Dallas-Oklahoma City pairing seems virtually impossible, which is a shame given the obvious geographic rivalry.

---

[h3]East battles[/h3]
Now ... who's ready for the East?

Fortunately, it's much easier on this side. The Cavs will face either Chicago or Toronto in the 1-vs.-8 pairing, with Chicago owning the upper hand after Toronto's meltdown Sunday; the Raps have dropped five straight and 18 of 25. Toronto still has the tiebreaker but will need to win at Detroit on Monday -- not an easy task of late -- and beat the Knicks at home Wednesday, then hope the Bulls lose at least once. Chicago's most likely loss is Tuesday against Boston, because the Charlotte game on Wednesday is likely to be against the Bobcats' scrubs.

Charlotte is almost certainly locked into No. 7 and a date with Orlando, but can move up to No. 6 with two wins and two Miami losses. Since the Heat play Philadelphia and New Jersey in their final two games, this doesn't seem likely; the Bobcats also play New Jersey on Monday before hosting the Bulls on Wednesday.

Miami and Milwaukee are tied for No. 5, with the Bucks owning the tiebreaker. Milwaukee closes with Atlanta and Boston, though, leaving it at a disadvantage. The Hawks can move closer to both clinching a No. 3 seed and drawing Milwaukee in the first round by winning at Milwaukee on Monday, but won't seal it unless they either beat Cleveland's scrubs Wednesday or Boston loses at least once. (As a division champion, Boston owns the tiebreaker with Atlanta despite losing all four meetings against the Hawks.)

Nonetheless, three positions in the East could be nailed down Monday night. While it's unlikely, the Bucks can clinch No. 5 if they surprise Atlanta and the Heat lose to Philly. And Charlotte would officially land at No. 7 with either a loss or a Miami win. So if Milwaukee wins and Charlotte and Miami lose, we can write spots 5-7 in ink.

---

[h3]Lakers vs. Magic[/h3]
Finally, one other position is left to be determined: home-court advantage in a potential Lakers-Magic rematch in the NBA Finals. While this seems purely of academic interest given how L.A. is playing at the moment, Orlando can wrap up the advantage with any combo of two wins and Lakers losses.

In the unlikely event we get a Finals that doesn't involve the Lakers, Cavs or Magic, the West team likely will have home-court advantage. One exception is if there's a tie at 53 wins, which could happen if the Hawks win out -- Atlanta would hold the tiebreaker over Utah, Denver and Phoenix.

 

[banks2pierce]

I really want the 3 seed and for the Bucks to get the 6 seed. This would require 2 Miami wins (very doable), Bucks or Cavs beating Atlanta (not looking good), and us winning out(I have no idea what to expect from my team).

I want SAS vs. LAL so they can knock each other around. Don't want OKC vs. Dallas. I am pulling for those 2 teams and want to see them advance.

 

[youngtriz]

who is gonna make the official playoff thread?

 

[japanair21]

Beaubois has had 3 highlight reel plays in the first 5 minutes of the game,

Dude is playing ridiculously out there.

 

[i nasmatic i]

James Harden just posterized Martell Webster.

 

[SplinterMatic319]

PLayoff basketball around the corner super appreciation



ps i hate baseball

 

[datznasty]

Man we don't even want to make a little splash in the playoffs. Dudes are just happy to be there. Everybody, save for Serge, seems to be playing tired like they are hitting some sort of wall, especially Russ.

$*+$! Date with LA on Sunday

 

[sirius lee handsome]

Watching the OKC vs Portland game and thinking to myself "Why would you not call a time out with the run the Blazers are making right now?" They're now up by 9 pts with like three minutes

NO WAY WAS THAT A FLAGRANT 2 on Collison. Herb Portland announcers

 

[noskey]

Originally Posted by SIRIUS LEE HANDSOME

NO WAY WAS THAT A FLAGRANT 2 on Collison. Herb Portland announcers

You grow to love them. In a way like you love your grandfather who makes you watch his boring daytime shows and eat almonds with him outside while he listens to the birds. So love might not be the right word. But they're there, and you learn to accept the situation that comes with them.


Glad we were able to finally pull out a couple good wins against real good teams back to back, and without Roy at that

Gives up hope for the playoffs.

 

[MVP]

Well looks like OKC vs LA on Sunday...should be a great series. Hopefully KB is healthy, KD will probably get bodied by Ron Ron though.

 

[youngtriz]

so in the east it looks like
ORL
vs
CHA

ATL
vs
MIL

BOS
vs
MIA

i think we can take BOS in 7 games.... and ATL just smashed on the bucks tonight... bobcats will put up a fight, but i dont see them winning more then 2 games

 

[sirius lee handsome]

Is Brandon Roy out for good? I can definitely see Oklahoma taking it to LA (though I think LA will win in the end). Lakers are probably going through their most vulnerable/weakest moment that I can recall in the past few years and it's going to take some luck for them to get far imo.

 

[datznasty]

Originally Posted by Mamba MVP

Well looks like OKC vs LA on Sunday...should be a great series. Hopefully KB is healthy, KD will probably get bodied by Ron Ron though.

@

And it's too bad. But then again, I got 5 tickets and the chance to go to the parade Friday and hoard more and see how much money I can make.