[Note by Steve Perrin, 04/21/12 5:35 PM PDT ] I forgot to mention Orlando-Utah. This is really truly inside baseball at this point, but as long as we're obsessed, let's really be obsessed. Orlando is currently the sixth seed in the East. Atlanta (the fifth seed) and New York (the seventh seed) are the Clippers' final two opponents, on the road next Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. if those games are meaningless to those teams, it will certainly help the Clippers to secure (I started to say earn, but it felt wrong) those final two victories.
So, do we want Orlando to win, or do we want Orlando to lose? Yes. If Orlando wins, then New York cannot catch them and is locked into 7 or 8 -- with a reasonable argument that 8 would be preferable for them, so they could decide to shut down until the playoffs start (though they'll want to get Amare Stoudemire some reps probably). If Orlando loses, then they are no longer a threat to Atlanta, which makes it more likely that Atlanta will start to coast some.
In an amazingly perfect world where I pull the strings, Orlando wins this game putting the Knicks into "we'd rather finish eighth then seventh mode" -- then Atlanta beats the tanking Knicks on Sunday, and the Hawks solidify their "we're the fifth seed but we still get home court advantage because our record is better than the Celtics" position. And then Josh Smith and Joe Johnson and Carmelo Antony and Tyson Chandler are all getting days off next week.
http://www.clipsnation.com/2012/4/21/29 ... ?ref=yahoo
