The Spurs escaped with a win over the Kings and the Suns big 4th quarter allowed them to skate past the Warriors - ending Golden State's playoff chances and putting Denver in the playoffs.
Here's 2-6 in the West.
New Orleans...55-25
San Antonio....55-26
Utah................54-27
Houston..........54-27
Phoenix..........54-27
As you can see a 4-way tie, even a 5-way tie is a possibility. The Spurs host the Jazz on Wednesday night. I'll let this blog navigate the tiebreakers. (Thanks, Jonathan Feigen.)
But I do know this....
If Rockets win and Spurs win...then #5 Rockets host #4 Jazz. (Rox better overall record)
If Rockets win and Jazz win and Suns win...then #4 Rockets host #5 Spurs. (Rox better conf record than Spurs and Suns)
If Rockets win and Jazz win and Suns lose..then #4 Spurs host #5 Rockets. (Spurs better division record)
If Rockets lose and Suns win then Rockets are #6 (Suns better overall record)
If Rockets lose and Suns lose then Rockets are #5 (Rox better conf record.
At least I think all that is true - naturally that is all based on the Hornets not making things really difficult and dropping their last 2 games for a potential 5-team tie.
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Here's where they stand. If the Spurs lose to the Kings, then the Rockets will still can have homecourt advantage in the first round if they just beat the Clippers on Wednesday. The Spurs host the Jazz to close out their seasons, thus one must lose and a Spurs loss tonight would mean all three teams would be 54-27 entering their finales.
If the Spurs win and the Suns win, too then all sorts of possibilities would remain. A Suns loss to Golden State tonight would clinch at least the 5th seed for Houston. We'll revisit when those go final.
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Seriously, I know the Rockets had very little chance after they fell behind by 21 points. But with 1:16 remaining, down 7 points, why would Adelman draw up a play for a McGrady to jack a 3' and not have Steve Novak in the game? Someone is going to take a three and then you foul. How could you not have your best shooter sitting on the bench? Not what lost the game but still a move that should've been made.
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The Jazz are a good team. Good teams make their opponents make mistakes. Good teams take advantage of those mistakes. Luis Scola is playing his butt off and matching Boozer bucket for bucket. Too bad nobody else is with him tonight. Jackson has a tough match-up with Deron Williams but there is really no excuse for some of the mistakes he's been making.
Tracy McGrady has been shooting miserably for weeks now and tonight is no different. He's just 5-13 tonight and since the beginning of March, he's an absolutely terrible 24% from three point land. Too bad he's not afraid to shoot them, he's 22-90, including 1-3 tonight.
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If you didn't think the game was over at the half, you probably should now since the Jazz are abusing them. The Jazz scored 9 points in barely 3 minutes to push the lead to 20. The Rockets were up 22-16 with 1:08 to go in the 1st quarter. Since then the Jazz have outscored them 49-23. Yikes.
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There is really no reason that the Rockets should be down 15 at the half - well except they keep missing layups. Uncontested layups. Scola missed one, McGrady missed one and the team missed nearly everything in the 2nd quarter. It wasn't really b/c of what the Jazz were doing, the Rockets simply missed a ton of shots they should have made. But now they're down 15 to a team that has only lost 1 of their last 27 home games.
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Usually a good idea to make your layups and free throws against the Jazz and the Rockets are not doing that tonight. I have no idea why McGrady thinks he's a good three-point shooter. The numbers do not lie. He started the night at a shade below 30% on the season. So with his 1-3 congratulations are in order - he's a 30% long range bomber.
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Matt Harpring is not a fun guy to play against. You're with me on this, right? He's the toughest SOB around and even though he doesn't burn you with 20 point night - all of his baskets are killers.
Let's what Coach Adelman has here in the 2nd quarter with nothing but bench guys out there. (Brooks, Head, Hayes, Harris, Landry)
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Nothing much going on in this one, other than hopefully some early foul issues for the Jazz. Both Brewer and Boozer picked up two early 1st quarter fouls. Rockets were down 6 early, but grabbed a 4 point lead after McGrady knocked in another jumper for his 8th point.
---------------WEX
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