February

[dream34]

As most people know, March is going to be a brutal month for us. Of the 15 games, we have 8 games against Western Conference teams with better records than us (5 on the road) and one against Boston. Each one of those we lose will hurt us a lot in this tight playoff race in the West, obviously. We really need to make up ground this month and move up the standings in the West. We will then worry about proving ourselves by winning the big games next month.

Here is a look at the schedules for the teams in the playoff race in the West. Bolded are the games in which they play each other.

10. Portland - 1/2 game behind us
Fri, Feb 8 @ Detroit
Sat, Feb 9 @ Indiana
Mon, Feb 11 @ Houston
Wed, Feb 13 @ Dallas
Tue, Feb 19 Sacramento
Thu, Feb 21 Seattle
Fri, Feb 22 @ Seattle
Sun, Feb 24 Boston
Tue, Feb 26 @ LA Lakers
Wed, Feb 27 @ LA Clippers
Fri, Feb 29 LA Lakers

They have some tough games this month, but I think they are starting to come back down to earth, and I don't see them making the playoffs this year.

9. Houston
Sat, Feb 9 Atlanta
Mon, Feb 11 Portland
Wed, Feb 13 Sacramento
Tue, Feb 19 @ Cleveland
Thu, Feb 21 Miami
Fri, Feb 22 @ New Orleans
Sun, Feb 24 Chicago
Tue, Feb 26 Washington
Fri, Feb 29 Memphis

With the 9 remaining games, the most important is @ New Orleans. We really need to win this game and prove that we can beat them on their home court, because this is a team that has dominated us the last few years - even when they were garbage, and now we could face them in the first round. The Portland game is another important one, we can't afford to let them gain any ground on us now that we overtook them in the standings. We also absolutely have to win the games we should, vs Miami, Memphis, etc.

8. Golden State - 0 games ahead, they have the tiebreaker
Sat, Feb 9 Sacramento
Mon, Feb 11 Washington
Wed, Feb 13 Phoenix
Tue, Feb 19 @ Utah
Wed, Feb 20 Boston
Fri, Feb 22 Atlanta
Tue, Feb 26 Seattle
Fri, Feb 29 Philadelphia

They have a tough 3 game stretch, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go 4-4 or worse for the rest of February, which would give us a great chance to move up.

7. Denver Nuggets - 1/2 game ahead
Fri, Feb 8 Washington
Sun, Feb 10 @ Cleveland
Tue, Feb 12 @ Miami
Wed, Feb 13 @ Orlando
Tue, Feb 19 Boston
Fri, Feb 22 @ Chicago
Sat, Feb 23 @ Milwaukee
Mon, Feb 25 Detroit
Wed, Feb 27 @ Seattle
Fri, Feb 29 LA Clippers

Denver's next 8 games are in the East, followed by two easy ones against Seattle and Clippers. 6 of them are on the road, and they haven't been playing that great, so I'd like to see them go 6-4 or 7-3. They don't seem to be very consistent (recently followed up a win over Orlando over back to back losses in Charlotte and Atlanta).

6. Los Angeles Lakers - 2 1/2 games ahead
Fri, Feb 8 @ Orlando
Sun, Feb 10 @ Miami
Mon, Feb 11 @ Charlotte
Wed, Feb 13 @ Minnesota
Tue, Feb 19 Atlanta
Wed, Feb 20 @ Phoenix
Sat, Feb 23 @ LA Clippers
Sun, Feb 24 @ Seattle
Tue, Feb 26 Portland
Thu, Feb 28 Miami
Fri, Feb 29 @ Portland

They still have 11 games in Feb, and 8 of them are on the road. Hopefully Kobe's finger keeps bothering him enough to let a few more losses slip out, but with the Gasol addition, it almost seems impossible that they drop out of the playoffs. Lakers have a pretty tough remaining schedule, so we might be able to catch up with them.

5. San Antonio Spurs - 3 games ahead
Fri, Feb 8 @ NY Knicks
Sun, Feb 10 @ Boston
Mon, Feb 11 @ Toronto
Wed, Feb 13 @ Cleveland
Tue, Feb 19 Charlotte
Thu, Feb 21 @ Minnesota
Sat, Feb 23 New Orleans
Mon, Feb 25 Atlanta
Thu, Feb 28 Dallas

San Antonio went 8-8 in January, and 3-4 more losses in Feb would be great. Parker is due back around the Hornets game, so maybe they will drop a couple easy ones without him.

4. Utah Jazz - 3 1/2 games ahead
Fri, Feb 8 @ Sacramento
Sat, Feb 9 Chicago
Wed, Feb 13 @ Seattle
Tue, Feb 19 Golden State
Fri, Feb 22 @ LA Clippers
Sat, Feb 23 Atlanta
Tue, Feb 26 @ Minnesota
Wed, Feb 27 Detroit
Fri, Feb 29 @ New Orleans

Utah has been on a tear (10 straight) and I think they will end up keeping the 4th seed. Looking at their schedule, they could easily extend it to 17, but I really doubt they don't let their guard down one of these games. Looking ahead, they have the hardest schedule in April, the last 6 games are: San Antonio, @New Orleans, @Dallas, Denver, Houston, @San Antonio. Unfortunately, it's in April, when people usually start resting for the playoffs. Maybe it will be different with people battling for homecourt advantage.

3. New Orleans Hornets 4 1/2 games
Sat, Feb 9 Memphis
Tue, Feb 12 @ Chicago
Wed, Feb 13 @ Milwaukee
Wed, Feb 20 Dallas
Fri, Feb 22 Houston
Sat, Feb 23 @ San Antonio
Mon, Feb 25 Washington
Wed, Feb 27 Phoenix
Fri, Feb 29 Utah 8:00 PM

The Hornets have the hardest remaining Feb schedule of the teams ahead of us. This will be a serious chance for us to catch up to them - especially on Feb 22 obviously. Already 1-2 this month, they could easily have a losing record this month, with 5 games to fellow West playoff teams.

2. Dallas Mavericks - 4 1/2 games ahead
Fri, Feb 8 Memphis
Sun, Feb 10 @ New Jersey
Mon, Feb 11 @ Philadelphia
Wed, Feb 13 Portland
Thu, Feb 14 @ Phoenix
Wed, Feb 20 @ New Orleans
Fri, Feb 22 @ Memphis
Sun, Feb 24 @ Minnesota
Mon, Feb 25 Chicago
Thu, Feb 28 @ San Antonio
Fri, Feb 29 Sacramento

7 of 11 on the road, and 4 against other West foes. While I know it's unrealistic, how great would it be if they didn't make the playoffs?

1. Phoenix Suns - 5 games ahead
Fri, Feb 8 Seattle
Sun, Feb 10 Washington
Wed, Feb 13 @ Golden State
Thu, Feb 14 Dallas
Wed, Feb 20 LA Lakers
Fri, Feb 22 Boston
Sun, Feb 24 Detroit
Tue, Feb 26 @ Memphis
Wed, Feb 27 @ New Orleans

Hopefully Shaq doesn't play until after the All Star break, because they could struggle to beat Washington, GS, and Dallas without Shaq/Marion. After the break, having to work Shaq in against LA, Boston, and Detroit could be tough. I don't think they will still be the #1 seed in the West at the end of this month.

[ballinforkeeps]

i cant read this cuz i gotta go to sleep but i will give you major props for showin us this months schedule for the top 10 teams in the west.

we have an easy month again, but that dont mean we wont lose any games. i hope we can have back to back good months. im sure we can, team is startin to mesh.

[Texas Longhorns]

I don't like these types of threads. Can we just wait for the reality? Meaning, just wait and see what place and what our record is on All-Star break.

[skbucks1985]

I actually don't think our March schedule is that bad. There's the murderer's row week with that 5 games in 7 days stretch with all games against playoff caliber teams. Other than that, its not too bad. Its certainly more difficult than our February schedule but its do-able. Our April schedule, while also more difficult than February is also do-able as. Other than that murderer's row week, I don't think our schedule is that bad.