I took the time to highlight the playoff race as of right now so I figured this was a good place to put it.
The main teams in the mix for the 8th seed are IND (27-38), CHA (27-38), and MIL (25-38). We are 5 games behind each of them in the loss column. Detroit (23-43) is in the same boat, with 2 extra wins already earned. Assuming time is the greatest obstacle for any team making a run right now, we are basically in the same situation therefore I will leave them out of the analysis.
IND 27-38 next 6 games @NYK, NYK, @BOS, CHI, @MEM, @NJN- Currently riding a 6 game lossing streak including back to back losses against Toronto and Minnesota, losing every game by 8 points or more
- Team has only won 2 games since Mike Dunleavy got injured on Feb 22 - with a broken finger he is likely out until April (6-8 weeks)
- Jeff Foster and Josh McRoberts are also both banged up having missed some time this week, however both were back for last night's loss
- 4 of their next 6 are on the road where they are 13 gms under .500
- At the PCNY on 3/21 for our final meeting of the year
- Their last 3 gms of the season are vs. ATL, NYK, and at ORL.
bottomline - Indy is ice cold and likely to continue to fall back. They're banged up and their defense has been awful which makes this a terrible time for 2 in a row vs. the Knicks, who are looking to avenge a bad loss of their own. This next stretch has a very real chance to stretch their losing streak to 10+ games and we know what that can do to a team's confidence. I'd very surprised if they're able to win 5 or 6 more games the remainder of the seasonCHA 27-38 next 6 games @TOR, @HOU, @OKC, @SA, vs. IND, @BOS- Had a 6 game losing streak of their own going which was broken last night by beating Portland, only their 2nd win since trading Gerald Wallace (2-6)
- Have a brutal road trip coming up and also have 2 games remaining against ORL and 1 game remaining at MIA
- Of all the teams in the hunt I think it's safe to say they have the most difficult remaining schedule
- 2nd to last game of the season is at the PCNY, and I would be very surprised if they were more then 1 game ahead of us at that point
- Finish the season vs. ATL on ESPN
bottomline - this team is basically Stephen Jackson or bust. In their 2 wins since trading Wallace he has had 30 and 29 respectively. They have no depth and a brutal schedule so as the season goes on it's very hard to imagine them playing anywhere close to .500 ball. Of all the teams in the race this one is clearly the easiest to imagine running on fumes as the season winds down. MIL 25-38- next 6 games vs. PHI, @BOS, @ATL, vs. ORL, vs. NJN, vs. NYK - Easily the biggest threat left in the hunt
- On a 2 game winning streak beating CLE and WAS back to back
- While they have some cupcake games remaining they do still need to play @ MIA, @ ORL, and @ OKC (final game of their season)
- Corey Maggette is a little banged up missing their last 2 games, Illyasova has been out their last 6 games with a concussion
overall - as I said, this team would scare me the most out of those remaining. They are deep and they have a difference maker in Bogut. He effects the game a lot more then Stephen Jackson or Granger, especially against bad teams. They do have some tough games left but an out and out collapse is unlikely. But for them to get to 34 wins they would have to go 9-10 the rest of the season. With 11 games left against playoff teams, including 6 games against ORL, MIA, OKC, BOS, and CHI that is still going to be a tough taskAnalysis from a NJN point of view Quite surprisingly making the playoffs is a very realistic possibility. We have the most momentum right now, by a landslide, and if we were ever able to get 1 of these next 2 with Deron back we would likely gain another game in the race and even more momentum. It's hard to imagine all 3 of these teams collapse but it's very easy to imagine at least 1, and very possibly 2. It's practically impossible for all 3 to collapse so we will still have to post a very good record the rest of the season and win a lot of key games to be able to give ourselves a chance. The key however is looking at the schedules of the other teams we do have a clear advantage.
Doing the math is kind of useless but here's a pretty simple hypothetical. We have 18 games remaining. If we were to beat the 4 teams in the race head to head and then go 7-7 vs. everyone else that puts us at 32 wins. I think 33-34 is the key number so while it's doable it's not a layup by any means.
It's times like these however that you look back at games like the OKC 3 OT game and both Suns games and say
