RealGM

It looks like 2 of these teams must miss the playoffs, so who will it be? Portland will be my first choice, but as my 2nd im hoping houston doesnt because hopefully this will give them a reason to lose tmac.

Portland.

New Orleans would need to have some kind of colossal collapse to miss the playoffs. Even if they play .500 ball for the rest of the year they'll still finish with 50+ wins.

Portland

Dude the Hornets dont even belong on that list, JMO.

speedkillz wrote:Portland

Dude the Hornets dont even belong on that list, JMO.

Nice avatar.

But yeah, I don't know why NO is on this list either.

You have the [current] #1 team in the West mixed in with the 4 teams that make up spots 7-10. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Portland, for example, is 8.5 games behind NO.

Denver and Portland. Nuggets March schedule will kill them IMO.

Mar 2 at Houston 8:00 pm ESPN Buy Tickets
Mar 5 vs Phoenix 9:00 pm ESPN, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 7 vs San Antonio 10:30 pm ESPN, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 8 at Utah 9:00 pm ALT, KJZZ Buy Tickets
Mar 10 at San Antonio 8:30 pm NBA, My35 Buy Tickets
Mar 12 vs Memphis 9:00 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 14 vs Toronto 9:00 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 16 vs Seattle 9:00 pm FSNW Buy Tickets
Mar 18 at Detroit 7:30 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 19 at Philadelphia 7:00 pm ALT, CSNP Buy Tickets
Mar 21 at New Jersey 7:30 pm ALT, YES Buy Tickets
Mar 23 at Toronto 3:30 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 24 at Memphis 8:00 pm Buy Tickets
Mar 27 vs Dallas 10:30 pm Buy Tickets
Mar 29 vs Golden State 9:00 pm FSBA, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 31 at Phoenix 10:00 pm NBA, FSAZ Buy Tickets

Hard to believe at the beginning of the season that they won't make the playoffs, if they don't.

right now it's a 3 dog fight for the 7th spot with denver, gs and the rockets.

One of these teams will NOT make the playoffs, i don't see portland having another 13 game winning streak so they shouldn't even be in this discussion.

IMO, it's gonna be a great finish and the one team who doesn't make it shouldn't feel dissapointed because the west is just that damn good.

speedkillz wrote:Portland

Dude the Hornets dont even belong on that list, JMO.

Honestly ANY of the 10 teams in the West playing .500+ ball could be on the list, considering NO has the best record and is still only 4 1/2 games from being out.

Though as long as nothing happens to Chris Paul, they should remain a top 3 seed.

blazers

Sloanfeld wrote:Denver and Portland. Nuggets March schedule will kill them IMO.

Mar 2 at Houston 8:00 pm ESPN Buy Tickets
Mar 5 vs Phoenix 9:00 pm ESPN, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 7 vs San Antonio 10:30 pm ESPN, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 8 at Utah 9:00 pm ALT, KJZZ Buy Tickets
Mar 10 at San Antonio 8:30 pm NBA, My35 Buy Tickets
Mar 12 vs Memphis 9:00 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 14 vs Toronto 9:00 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 16 vs Seattle 9:00 pm FSNW Buy Tickets
Mar 18 at Detroit 7:30 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 19 at Philadelphia 7:00 pm ALT, CSNP Buy Tickets
Mar 21 at New Jersey 7:30 pm ALT, YES Buy Tickets
Mar 23 at Toronto 3:30 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 24 at Memphis 8:00 pm Buy Tickets
Mar 27 vs Dallas 10:30 pm Buy Tickets
Mar 29 vs Golden State 9:00 pm FSBA, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 31 at Phoenix 10:00 pm NBA, FSAZ Buy Tickets

Hard to believe at the beginning of the season that they won't make the playoffs, if they don't.

Portland, it was a nice run while we had it, but we're missing out this year. Next year we should be ~a 6 seed.

Right now, the most likely is definitely Portland. After that, its really too tough to tell. As someone has already pointed out, 4.5 games separate the 1st and last seeds in the West. Any team with a serious injury could drop in a hurry.

Sloanfeld wrote:Denver and Portland. Nuggets March schedule will kill them IMO.

Mar 2 at Houston 8:00 pm ESPN Buy Tickets
Mar 5 vs Phoenix 9:00 pm ESPN, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 7 vs San Antonio 10:30 pm ESPN, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 8 at Utah 9:00 pm ALT, KJZZ Buy Tickets
Mar 10 at San Antonio 8:30 pm NBA, My35 Buy Tickets
Mar 12 vs Memphis 9:00 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 14 vs Toronto 9:00 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 16 vs Seattle 9:00 pm FSNW Buy Tickets
Mar 18 at Detroit 7:30 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 19 at Philadelphia 7:00 pm ALT, CSNP Buy Tickets
Mar 21 at New Jersey 7:30 pm ALT, YES Buy Tickets
Mar 23 at Toronto 3:30 pm ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 24 at Memphis 8:00 pm Buy Tickets
Mar 27 vs Dallas 10:30 pm Buy Tickets
Mar 29 vs Golden State 9:00 pm FSBA, ALT Buy Tickets
Mar 31 at Phoenix 10:00 pm NBA, FSAZ Buy Tickets

Hard to believe at the beginning of the season that they won't make the playoffs, if they don't.

It's not that bad.

4 very tough games (Phoenix twice, S.A. twice): they're likely to lose these games but you never know.

5 tough but winnable games (Houston, Utah, Detroit, G.S., Dallas): no disrespect to any of those teams but the Nugs can definitely beat all of them and in no case would it be a fluke.

7 games they should win (Memphis twice, Toronto twice, Seattle, Philly, N.J.): these are the games I hate because they play down to the competition and will certainly lose one or two.

Sloanfeld wrote:Denver and Portland. Nuggets March schedule will kill them IMO.

Mar 2 at Houston 8:00 pm ESPN Buy Tickets Nuggets are underdogs
Mar 5 vs Phoenix 9:00 pm ESPN, ALT Buy Tickets Nuggets are underdogs
Mar 7 vs San Antonio 10:30 pm ESPN, ALT Buy Tickets Nuggets are underdogs
Mar 8 at Utah 9:00 pm ALT, KJZZ Buy Tickets Nuggets are underdogs
Mar 10 at San Antonio 8:30 pm NBA, My35 Buy Tickets Nuggets are underdogs
Mar 12 vs Memphis 9:00 pm ALT Buy Tickets Nuggets are favorites
Mar 14 vs Toronto 9:00 pm ALT Buy Tickets too close to call
Mar 16 vs Seattle 9:00 pm FSNW Buy Tickets Nuggets are favorites
Mar 18 at Detroit 7:30 pm ALT Buy Tickets Nuggets are underdogs
Mar 19 at Philadelphia 7:00 pm ALT, CSNP Buy Tickets Nuggets are favorites
Mar 21 at New Jersey 7:30 pm ALT, YES Buy Tickets Nuggets are favorites
Mar 23 at Toronto 3:30 pm ALT Buy Tickets too close to call
Mar 24 at Memphis 8:00 pm Buy Tickets Nuggets are favorites
Mar 27 vs Dallas 10:30 pm Buy Tickets Nuggets are underdogs
Mar 29 vs Golden State 9:00 pm FSBA, ALT Buy Tickets too close to call
Mar 31 at Phoenix 10:00 pm NBA, FSAZ Buy Tickets Nuggets are underdogs

Hard to believe at the beginning of the season that they won't make the playoffs, if they don't.

8 games they are expected to lose. 3 games that are too close to call and only 5 they are expected to win. My reasoning: Mavs and Pistons are better then you give them credit. Those games are winnable by Dener but i'd say either team is a 7 point favorites over the Nuggs. Houston and Utah are to hot for Denver right now. You also have to remember Utah at home is one of the toughest places to get a win. And with Tmac and Yao healthy they are on a roll. Toronto is a great match up with denver so I'd expect this to be a split with each winning on thier home court. Denver's chances as I see it are 8 and 8 (best case) to 5 and 11 (worst case)for March.

That being said i still expect portland not to make it.

I'm with almost everyone here. Portland is the most likely to miss it. They're kinda in the same situation as the Hornets have been in the past few season. Got some talent with a great leader, but in the end, the West just was too deep for them and injuries started to take it's toll. The Blazers should still end the season with a respectable record though, certainly higher than anyone would have reasonably expected.

All that said, that is one BRUTAL March schedule for the Nugs. Doubt it's enough to take them out of the playoff race, but it's certainly gonna be a battle.

I dunno. But the Rockets have a tough March schedule. If they get through that they are in without a doubt. If not they will be out as well as Portland I believe.

Besides Portland, I'll go with GS as the odd team out. It just seems their leaders Baron and SJax are likely to have several off nights down the stretch.

Portland's future would actually be brighter if they got another lottery pick.

Then again, as if they need another one.

_BBIB_ wrote:Portland's future would actually be brighter if they got another lottery pick.

Then again, as if they need another one.

Unless they get a top 3 pick, I doubt another super young player is what they really need. If anything, a still semi-young vet would do more for this team than a more talented 19 year old would.

_BBIB_ wrote:Portland's future would actually be brighter if they got another lottery pick.

Then again, as if they need another one.

Ya, as I've mentioned before, Portland is in good shape, regardless of what happens this year. They'll have a ton of options this summer and next.