Playoff Watch 2013

[Mr. E]

We're at the time of the season when the Playoff picture starts to shape up. Every game has a sense of urgency from here on out.

After the slow start when the team was starting to learn to play together, the Rockets have seemed to start hitting their stride. They are currently standing in 8th place, but that is not where they have to finish. The team is currently two games out of 6th place.

One thing here is that the Rockets need to focus on who is ahead of them and not care about the teams behind them. I've seen plenty of threads around RealGM which basically believe that the Rockets are just placeholders for one of the teams behind them in the standings. I find that to be horribly insulting, therefore I am not wasting my time with the 9th seed and below. The focus needs to be on the teams above the Rockets in the standings and fighting to pass them up.

As of 2/23/13 before the Wizards game here is where we stand:


San Antonio 44 13 0
Oklahoma City 40 15 3
LA Clippers 39 18 5
Memphis 36 18 6.5
Denver 34 22 9.5
Golden State 32 23 11
Utah 31 24 12
Houston 31 26 13


Rockets remaining schedule:

Sat, Feb 23 @ Washington
Wed, Feb 27 Milwaukee
Fri, Mar 1 @ Orlando
Sun, Mar 3 Dallas
Wed, Mar 6 @ Dallas
Fri, Mar 8 @ Golden State
Sat, Mar 9 @ Phoenix
Wed, Mar 13 Phoenix
Fri, Mar 15 Minnesota
Sun, Mar 17 Golden State
Wed, Mar 20 Utah
Fri, Mar 22 Cleveland
Sun, Mar 24 San Antonio
Wed, Mar 27 Indiana
Fri, Mar 29 @ Memphis
Sat, Mar 30 LA Clippers
Mon, Apr 1 Orlando
Wed, Apr 3 @ Sacramento
Fri, Apr 5 @ Portland
Sat, Apr 6 @ Denver
Tue, Apr 9 Phoenix
Fri, Apr 12 Memphis
Sun, Apr 14 Sacramento
Mon, Apr 15 @ Phoenix
Wed, Apr 17 @ LA Lakers

'The Rockets can control their own destiny from here on out. The two teams that they need to be paying attention to are the Jazz and the Warriors. The Rockets are currently one game behind the Jazz and two behind the Warriors. Those are not insurmountable odds, and the schedule is pretty friendly.

That said, there are no automatic wins on the Rockets schedule. If they want the playoffs then they'll need to fight and claw their way to every victory.

[zapatasblood]

I think they can win 17 to 20 of the remaining games

[TMU]

The Rockets should win at least a 2/3 of those games. Easy.

[Zubby]

Who do we want to win today between LAL/DAL?

[TMACFORMVP]

Dallas.

That way Lakers make up no ground after our horrible loss....and while Dallas would be in great striking distance as well, we control our own fate with them next week since we play em twice.

[jjscap]

Schedule is pretty good.
48 - 34 (.585)

Wed, Feb 27 Milwaukee W
Fri, Mar 1 @ Orlando W
Sun, Mar 3 Dallas W
Wed, Mar 6 @ Dallas L
Fri, Mar 8 @ Golden State L
Sat, Mar 9 @ Phoenix W
Wed, Mar 13 Phoenix W
Fri, Mar 15 Minnesota W
Sun, Mar 17 Golden State W
Wed, Mar 20 Utah W
Fri, Mar 22 Cleveland W
Sun, Mar 24 San Antonio W
Wed, Mar 27 Indiana L
Fri, Mar 29 @ Memphis L
Sat, Mar 30 LA Clippers W
Mon, Apr 1 Orlando W
Wed, Apr 3 @ Sacramento W
Fri, Apr 5 @ Portland W
Sat, Apr 6 @ Denver L
Tue, Apr 9 Phoenix W
Fri, Apr 12 Memphis L
Sun, Apr 14 Sacramento W
Mon, Apr 15 @ Phoenix W
Wed, Apr 17 @ LA Lakers L

[TMACFORMVP]

Lakers are getting into the playoffs. Refs won't let them lose. And Kobe is playing incredible.

It's just a matter of if it will be our spot they're taking, or the Jazz.

[inquisitive]

we should get back that half game tomorrow when lakers play nuggets who are well rested.

[TMACFORMVP]

Unfortunately, should is no longer a word I trust anymore.

We should have beat Sacramento, Washington, and a bunch of other games as well. We should have beat Utah in the 07 playoffs too, the list just GOES on.

[Guy986]

Lakers are our only real threat at the moment.

After the mid season trade i could see us dropping a few winnable games.

[inquisitive]

with the few days off and the new guys getting practice time while learning mchale's system, we should be fine. i'm just glad we don't play till wednesday against the bucks who will have played on tuesday already. also, we only have one b2b game in march. i was only really concerned with b2b games due to the pace we play and not afraid of any team(minus spurs,nuggets, and pacers) out there who can match our pace.

i agree that the lakers are the only real threat to our 8th seed.

[Sasaki]

Even after the loss, Dallas does concern me a little bit, but not hugely so. Portland and Minnesota are done.

[inquisitive]

hollinger's playoffs odds and records projections:

rockets projected with 48 wins....lol

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds

[MaxRider]

i think the ref is going to start screwing us and try to close the gap between us and fakers

[rocketsballin]

assuming rockets dont have repeat performances from the wizards game, the 7th seed is ours. utah's strength of scheudle is one of the toughest post all star break. if the bench has the same output it did before the trades we can fight for the 6th seed.

im not worried about the pf, it'll work out in two weeks tops. dmo breaking out already, so thats one. trob already proved to be a rotational player.

[madbucky]

hollinger's playoffs odds and records projections:
rockets projected with 48 wins....lol
http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds

Hollinger's formula is heavily, heavily based on a team's pt differential, more so than their record. Houston has the 6th highest pt diff in the WC, so I'm not surprised Hollinger's formula predict Rockets for 6th place.

[kam_soluusar]

*In Max's Voice* No way we make the playoffs. Gotta keep the #15 pick streak alive. We lose every game from now on in.

[TMU]

Loss. Congrats to the Los Angeles Lakers.

[MaxRider]

*In Max's Voice* No way we make the playoffs. Gotta keep the #15 pick streak alive. We lose every game from now on in.

14

[Slava]

Jazz have a pretty bad March coming up and if I wasn't concerned about their home court advantage, which is right up there along with Denver for best in the NBA, I'd bet they drop out of the playoff picture by mid-march.