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There's still a lot of season left and we essentially have three tiers in the Western Conference. Tier one is Golden State and Memphis. Tier two is LAC, SAS, POR, HOU and DAL. Tier three, currently fighting for a single spot in the playoffs, is PHX, OKC and NOP.

The separation between Tier 2 and 3 isn't much, and there's certainly a chance one of those five join us in the fray down here in the next several weeks. So which one is it, if any?

Dallas or Spurs.

I would almost put money on the Blazers being that team. Damian is in a huge slump (which he could come out of at any time) and it is finally starting to be recognized that he is a chucker. He is usually on, which is why that can be forgiven, but when he is off he looks BAD. Read somewhere that he went 2-20 from 3 over two games.

They rely heavily on LMA, who I felt shouldn't have had to post-pone thumb surgery, albeit his decision, to make sure the team stays above water. That may come back to bite them in the ass come playoff time.

They have the fourth worst bench in the league.

My Blazer fan friends are actually blaming the team rather than the refs for losses. You know it's bad when Blazers' homers are starting to panic.

Unless Aldridge ends up going for the surgery, I don't see the Blazers falling back. Especially with Lopez scheduled to return any day now.

The problem if the Blazers fall is that OKC gets the spot as someone has to win their division. We should be rooting for Dallas to continue to slide.

Even if they fall a little they won't make down close enough and will get bailed out by the all star break. Then its back to business as they solidify their spots.

Nobody is gonna "fall" into our pack, we're gonna fall into the pack with the Nuggets ironic because they are another treadmill team.

Jarlaxle0204 wrote:The problem if the Blazers fall is that OKC gets the spot as someone has to win their division. We should be rooting for Dallas to continue to slide.

Damn, I didn't even think about that being a possibility this season. How painful would that be?

1. GSW 62-20
2. MEM 60-22
3. LAC 55-27
4. POR 45-37
5. HOU 53-29
6. DAL 51-31
7. SAS 49-33
8. NOP 47-35
9. PHX 46-36
10. OKC 45-37

Here's the standings with each team's next four. There are some possibilities to slip here.

3 Houston 33-15 - Chicago, Milwaukee, Portland, @ PHX
4 Portland 33-16 - PHX, @ Dallas, @ Houston, LAL
5 LA Clippers 33-16 - @ Cleveland, @ Toronto, @ OKC, @Dallas
6 Dallas 33-17 - @ GSW, @SAC, Portland, LAC
7 San Antonio 30-18 - Orlando, Miami, @ Toronto, @ Indiana

Go Thunder...

One vote for the Clippers. They could lose the next three.

JTrain wrote:One vote for the Clippers. They could lose the next three.

I was just looking at some of the teams schedules, and if one of those teams loses just a few in a row I think they'll be right down with us. The only problem is a lot of those good teams tend to just split games and end up losing no ground.

I think Houston, LAC and Dallas are teams that would have a hard time sustaining their pace if another starter is injured for more than a few games. It's going to be interesting to watch this final stretch into All-Star break to see if any of them separates to the bottom end.

^Agreed.
Clips just aren't that good if the refs aren't helping them.
Mavs have a terrible record against the current top 8 teams in the West. Rondo just doesn't fit their style. Their bench isn't very solid either.

Haha wow, Portland just pulled a Suns... maybe even worse. Lost an 11 point lead in 2 minutes.

Dallas hits a 3 with 1:54 left to cut the lead to 8. Instead of using the entire shot clock. Portland throws it down the court and Matthews misses a layup on the fast break, using only four seconds. That cost them the game.

We actually want LAC to beat OKC tomorrow. But if they lose (they are 3.5 point underdogs) there is some silver lining in that they could easily lose the next three as well, putting them at 33-22.

Houston at home will be tough but winnable. I actually think Horny figured out a decent defense against Harden in the second half of last game. If we can win the next three we would be at 32-23. That's potentially one game behind the Clippers.

So, Blake Griffin needs surgery on his elbow and is out "indefinitely", the Clips have lost 3 in a row and play 6 of their next 8 against West playoff teams (one of the two games that isn't is against OKC, not exactly a pushover). This could be a HUGE opportunity for the Suns to make up some of the 4 games that separate us and the Clips. Gotta take the breaks as they come!

This might be big for us. Not good timing for the OKC game though.