eyriq wrote:Conclusion: we about to end the season IN STYLEdrsd wrote:Remaining Schedule Strength:
Boston has weak - 28th hardest at .463
Milwaukee has strong - 3rd hardest at .534
Cleveland at mid - 15th at .503
New York at mid - 14 at .504
Philadelphia at strong - 9th at .515
Indiana mid - 19th at .495
Orlando at weak - 30th at .435
Miami at weak - 27th at .464
Chicago at mid - 17th at .499
Atlanta at mid - 16th at .502
And for completeness
Brooklyn has weak - 29th at .460
Toronto has weak - 22nd at .488
For Orlando, one might conclude from only considerations of strength of schedule, that at least the 8 seed is a lock and that the Magic is more likely to catch the Sixers than the Pacers. So the range would be from 5 to 8. That's a seeding range were the Magic must play each game hard.
The absolute best the Magic can hope for is the 4-seed and the worst is 9-seed. That range seems to be in stone at this point.
hype about to reach unreal levels
It will be a real dog-race to see if the Magic or Heat win the South East. That Miami has the tie-breaker is further motivation for Orlando to go out trying to win-every-game.
Add to that: the Knicks freefall will likely extend for another couple weeks with Anunoby and Randle out and the Sixers will not be more than a mediocre team to close out the season, it is not that unreasonable to think that Orlando and Miami are fighting for the 4 and 5 seeds. (depends n the Pacers' run to close out).
To add to the hype machine: currently the Magic is the 3rd hottest team in the east over the last ten games!