GT #72: Nuggets @ Bullets 7 PM (NBCSW/1500 AM) [Phil's #45 Jersey Retirement]

[FAH1223]

YOUR Washington Bullets ARE 40-31 and in 6th place in the East!

The Bullets lost AGAIN in San Antonio to the still Kawhi-less Spurs. There was no answer for Aldridge and the Bullets defensive effort was disgusting. Meanwhile, the Sixers can't lose and its looking like the Bullets won't have home court in Round 1. John Wall remains out but he's getting close to a return.

The Nuggets are on an insanely long road trip for this late in the season. They are trying to keep pace with just making it into the postseason out West. But unlucky for them, the teams in front of them are winning games. Jokic aka The Joker has been special this season. Jamal Murray has emerged as a terrific pick for the Nuggets a couple years ago. Gary Harris is out which means Will Barton will be starting. Paul Millsap has recently returned and we'll see if he gets Morris in foul trouble as what happened in the postseason last year.

TONIGHT... Phil's #45 is being retired by the franchise. You can see local and national voices of basketball congratulating Phil in this thread. Among them are Kareem, Dr. J, Ice Man Gervin, Austin Carr, C-Webb, Tough Juice Caron Butler, Adam Silver, and more!

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-------------------------VS-------------------------




LAST GAME:
Wizards @ Spurs - 90-98 (L)
Nuggets @ Bulls - 135-102 (W)
Lineups:











Bench:

[FAH1223]

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[nate33]

This is one of the few remaining games that are difficult to predict. We know we're going to beat the out-of-contention tanking teams like Atlanta, Chicago and New York. We know we're going to lose to good teams with motivation to win like San Antonio and Cleveland. Denver is like us - a mediocre team that really wants to win. It's a home game so we should probably have the odds slightly in our favor, but I'm not feeling particularly confident.

[Shanghai Kid]

This is one of the few remaining games that are difficult to predict. We know we're going to beat the out-of-contention tanking teams like Atlanta, Chicago and New York. We know we're going to lose to good teams with motivation to win like San Antonio and Cleveland. Denver is like us - a mediocre team that really wants to win. It's a home game so we should probably have the odds slightly in our favor, but I'm not feeling particularly confident.

Denver has been extremely shaky recently. But so have we.

I said in a different thread, but my honest estimation is that Philly is going to get that 3rd seed. It's in the teams best interest to avoid Cleveland in the first round at all costs, so staying in that 6th seed or moving to 7th would be fantastic.

It's an awkward position to be in, because I believe Washington WAS in a position to get a 3rd/4th seed, but now it seems they are relegated to getting 5th or 6th and having to maneuver into the best matchup.

Literally their entire postseason run is dependent on matching up with Philly in the first round instead of Cleveland.

[payitforward]

In retrospect, our win in Indiana was really big. Had we lost, we'd have Miami only 1/2 game behind us -- a team that's playing very well & has 6 of its remaining 10 games at home. We'd also have lost the season series w/ Indiana which instead we've won.

We'd have been staring the 7th spot in the face, meaning an opening round vs. Boston w/ them having the HCA.

It could still wind up that way, but at least the odds have increased that we'll open vs. either Philly or Cleveland. There's even an outside chance that we could wind up #4. That would depend on Cleveland falling, as the Sixers look more likely to flirt with 50 wins than to drop below us. But Cleveland too has a very easy schedule the rest of the way.

In short... better win tonight!

[gravytrain24]

Going to the game tonight and I think that they're going to play inspired b/c 45 is going into the rafters tonight. However I think the Denver frontcourt is going to have their way. The key is Sato, if his defense doesn't pick up, it might get ugly quickly because they can all drive and hit open 3's.

[Shanghai Kid]

In retrospect, our win in Indiana was really big. Had we lost, we'd have Miami only 1/2 game behind us -- a team that's playing very well & has 6 of its remaining 10 games at home. We'd also have lost the season series w/ Indiana which instead we've won.

We'd have been staring the 7th spot in the face, meaning an opening round vs. Boston w/ them having the HCA.

It could still wind up that way, but at least the odds have increased that we'll open vs. either Philly or Cleveland. There's even an outside chance that we could wind up #4. That would depend on Cleveland falling, as the Sixers look more likely to flirt with 50 wins than to drop below us. But Cleveland too has a very easy schedule the rest of the way.

In short... better win tonight!

The 7th spot would be have been fantastic. You would be facing a Boston team that potentially could be miss Irving for the first round or have an Irving who isn't 100%. The Wizards have played well against even a healthy Boston team this year.

I'm not sure why you would want to open up against Philly or Cleveland? Philly has won 5 in a row and has the easiest remaining schedule in the league. They are probably going to head into the playoffs with nearly 50 wins and tons of confidence. The Wiz would have 0% chance against Cleveland.

[payitforward]

...my honest estimation is that Philly is going to get that 3rd seed. It's in the teams best interest to avoid Cleveland in the first round at all costs, so staying in that 6th seed or moving to 7th would be fantastic.

It's an awkward position to be in, because I believe Washington WAS in a position to get a 3rd/4th seed, but now it seems they are relegated to getting 5th or 6th and having to maneuver into the best matchup.

Literally their entire postseason run is dependent on matching up with Philly in the first round instead of Cleveland.

Cleveland has an incredibly easy schedule the rest of the way. Philly's is easy too, but the Cavs have 6 of their last 11 games vs. Phoenix, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Dallas & the Knicks (twice!).

It's likely we'll have to finish in front of Indiana to face Philly in R1 -- you seem to regard that matchup as easy for some reason. It wouldn't be, & we wouldn't be favored to win the series.

Would you rather fall to #7 & face Boston rather than Cleveland in R1?

[payitforward]

In retrospect, our win in Indiana was really big. Had we lost, we'd have Miami only 1/2 game behind us -- a team that's playing very well & has 6 of its remaining 10 games at home. We'd also have lost the season series w/ Indiana which instead we've won.

We'd have been staring the 7th spot in the face, meaning an opening round vs. Boston w/ them having the HCA.

It could still wind up that way, but at least the odds have increased that we'll open vs. either Philly or Cleveland. There's even an outside chance that we could wind up #4. That would depend on Cleveland falling, as the Sixers look more likely to flirt with 50 wins than to drop below us. But Cleveland too has a very easy schedule the rest of the way.

In short... better win tonight!

The 7th spot would be have been fantastic. You would be facing a Boston team that potentially could be miss Irving for the first round or have an Irving who isn't 100%. The Wizards have played well against even a healthy Boston team this year.

I'm not sure why you would want to open up against Philly or Cleveland? Philly has won 5 in a row and has the easiest remaining schedule in the league. They are probably going to head into the playoffs with nearly 50 wins and tons of confidence. The Wiz would have 0% chance against Cleveland.

Our posts crossed -- I follow your thinking. Boston might well be the easiest matchup.

[Shanghai Kid]

In retrospect, our win in Indiana was really big. Had we lost, we'd have Miami only 1/2 game behind us -- a team that's playing very well & has 6 of its remaining 10 games at home. We'd also have lost the season series w/ Indiana which instead we've won.

We'd have been staring the 7th spot in the face, meaning an opening round vs. Boston w/ them having the HCA.

It could still wind up that way, but at least the odds have increased that we'll open vs. either Philly or Cleveland. There's even an outside chance that we could wind up #4. That would depend on Cleveland falling, as the Sixers look more likely to flirt with 50 wins than to drop below us. But Cleveland too has a very easy schedule the rest of the way.

In short... better win tonight!

The 7th spot would be have been fantastic. You would be facing a Boston team that potentially could be miss Irving for the first round or have an Irving who isn't 100%. The Wizards have played well against even a healthy Boston team this year.

I'm not sure why you would want to open up against Philly or Cleveland? Philly has won 5 in a row and has the easiest remaining schedule in the league. They are probably going to head into the playoffs with nearly 50 wins and tons of confidence. The Wiz would have 0% chance against Cleveland.

Our posts crossed -- I follow your thinking. Boston might well be the easiest matchup.

I think if push comes to shove, we can beat Philly. It would be a 6-7 game series, but I think our experience edge would get us over the hump.

But I can't even picture a scenario where we beat Cleveland in the first round. So my whole thing is our fate depends on us avoiding Cleveland.

Cleveland and Philly both have easy schedules, but Philly actually hosts Cleveland towards the end of the season. That's where I think Philly has the leg up on getting the 3rd seed. And that's where I'm thinking we probably want to stay in the 6th seed.

[ducler]

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

They have Millsap. We're toast.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Jokic will kill Gortat and Mahinmi.

The Wizards are going to lose.

[FAH1223]

Jokic will kill Gortat and Mahinmi.

The Wizards are going to lose.

Bright side

John has worked on his shooting.

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[truwizfan4evr]

Why is kara lawson missing so many games?

[truwizfan4evr]

John wall shot looks like Ray Allen shot in practice hardly hitting the net. Hope he improved it.

[TheBabyMaker]

Why is kara lawson missing so many games?

She is covering NCAA March Madness.

[FAH1223]

Why is kara lawson missing so many games?

NCAAW Tournament. She has a contract with ESPN.

[queridiculo]

Wizards defenders are just dying on those picks, at what point is Brooks going to call a timeout to address it?

They've got what, 4 or 5 made threes already?

[queridiculo]

You can just tell it's one of those nights. Fans didn't show, team has no energy, no fight, no hustle, this is going to be a blowout.