Upcoming Stretch

okpistolpete · Post #1 » by **okpistolpete** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 9:09 pm

Tonight we travel to New Orleans on the second game of a back-to-back, after playing at OKC. Not an easy game. Then on Wednesday we're back home to face the hottest team in the league in the Rockets. Not an easy game.

But then...

3/4 @ Suns (no Bledsoe) W
3/6 @ Lakers W
3/8 vs. Hawks W
3/10 vs. Suns W
3/12 vs. Warriors W
3/14 @ Jazz
3/16 vs. Cavs
3/17 @ Nuggets
3/22 vs. Pistons
3/24 vs. Bucks

Now, I know better than to take any games for granted, but this is a great 10-game stretch for us. The Suns have been playing very good ball lately, but we'll be well rested going into that first game and the second time we play them Phoenix will be on the second game of a back-to-back, traveling to Staples Center after playing in Oakland the night before. The Lakers are garbage, obviously, as are the Hawks who have lost 8 of their last 9. The Warriors game will be a tough one as usual, but it is at home. We then go to Utah, who are tied with the Lakers for worst record in the West. After that is the Cavs at home, a team that is 8-21 on the road this year. The next night we play in Denver, which (as we've seen this year) is always a tough one, but they're one of the coldest teams in the league, winning just 1 of their last 8 games and getting their butts kicked last night by the Kings at home. Then it's the lowly Pistons & Bucks at home.

All in all, I would't be surprised with a 10-0 or 9-1 stretch. Meanwhile, check out the schedules for the other teams in seeding-competition with us:

Spurs: @ Cavs, vs. Heat, vs. Magic, @ Bulls, vs. Blazers, vs. Lakers, vs. Jazz, @ Lakers, @ Kings, @ Warriors

Rockets: vs. Heat, @ Magic, vs. Pacers, vs. Blazers, @ Thunder, @ Bulls, @ Heat, vs. Jazz, vs. Wolves, @ Cavs, @ Bobcats

Blazers: vs. Hawks, @ Mavs, @ Rockets, @ Grizzlies, @ Spurs, @ Pelicans, vs. Warriors, vs. Bucks, vs. Wizards, @ Bobcats, @ Heat, @ Magic

By 3/25, I think we can have secured the #2 seed, and at the minimum the #3 seed.

Neddy · Post #2 » by **Neddy** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:37 am

looking at that schedule, Rocks and Blaz are screwed.

and agree that we can be in top 2 or 3 by the end of march. but i prefer we get the second over 3rd, since we don't seem to matchup well against the Oakland club.

DLaren · Post #3 » by **DLaren** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 2:15 am

okpistolpete wrote:By 3/25, I think we can have secured the #2 seed, and at the minimum the #3 seed.

At the beginning of February I said that this would be a season-defining month of basketball; and we're currently on pace to finish our most challenging month with a 7-4 record. It's time to raise the bar; the #1 seed is right there for the taking.

If these guys wanna be champions then now is the time to put the rest of the NBA on notice. The month of March won't define our season, but it will define our character.

mttwlsn16 · Post #4 » by **mttwlsn16** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 4:15 am

wow. our schedule is pretty cake compared to the others in the next 30 days. time to pass some teams in the west

BlzMwt · Post #5 » by **BlzMwt** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 7:10 am

DLaren wrote:
okpistolpete wrote:By 3/25, I think we can have secured the #2 seed, and at the minimum the #3 seed.

At the beginning of February I said that this would be a season-defining month of basketball; and we're currently on pace to finish our most challenging month with a 7-4 record. It's time to raise the bar; the #1 seed is right there for the taking.

If these guys wanna be champions then now is the time to put the rest of the NBA on notice. The month of March won't define our season, but it will define our character.

I think considering we are 5 games back of OKC, with about 20 games to go for each squad, that it really isnt feasible for the #1 seed. We only play them once and their schedule isn't too difficult with ATLEAST half of their games winnable. Add into the fact that Westbrook seemed to be getting back into a groove Sunday and I think OKC has yet to peak which is scary.

I think more importantly for the clippers rather than their record, is getting EVERYONE 100% healthy and used to playing together. Hopefully with the addition of big baby and whoever else we sign for a backup big (please doc) DJ and Griffin arent too run down come playoff time.

NBAfan3024 · Post #6 » by **NBAfan3024** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 9:21 am

No reason Clippers don't overtake Houston soon.

Post #7 » by **QRich3** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 11:22 am

Tomorrow's game will be huge if we can win it and enter this stretch ahead. We need to focus and not drop any of these easy *on paper* games. Denver is free falling and half their team is injured, hopefully we can win that, cause playing there has given us very bad results in the last couple years. Atlanta, New Orleans, Milwakee, Lakers should be freebies if we don't have any brainfart. Phoenix embarassed us last time so I hope everyone goes out with some thirst for revenge in both games. The back to back in Dallas is gonna be difficult but we could get it.

Then we play in Houston again in the 3rd game in 4 nights, so that could be a loss easily. Hopefully we'd built a cushion by then. April is not gonna be that easy, we have a couple of b2b's in Portland and Dallas and we have to play OKC and PHX again, we should have a few games advantage by then if we want 2nd/3rd seed.

If we could get a nice long winning streak this month, winning 60 games is not out of the table

TheNewEra · Post #8 » by **TheNewEra** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 4:22 pm

With new players coming in I could see a game slip learning things. Once it clicks this team will be nasty.

Quake Griffin · Post #9 » by **Quake Griffin** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:02 pm

Neddy wrote:looking at that schedule, Rocks and Blaz are screwed.

and agree that we can be in top 2 or 3 by the end of march. but i prefer we get the second over 3rd, since we don't seem to matchup well against the Oakland club.

u think we don't match up well with them? or we match up better with other teams.

that team seriously puts NO FEAR in my heart.

Forte IV · Post #10 » by **Forte IV** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:51 pm

^^^as far as I'm concerned its only 1-1 against them too. I don't count that cowardly win on Christmas

Quake Griffin · Post #11 » by **Quake Griffin** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:00 pm

SuperNova854 wrote:^^^as far as I'm concerned its only 1-1 against them too. I don't count that cowardly win on Christmas

you count the game we played up there without CP? I guess I count it...but I take it with a grain of salt.
CP can really dig into Curry defensively and makes it much more difficult for him to use screens and get off.

I tend to think the way we defended them on Christmas is probably how we'd defend them over the course of 7 games....and that bodes well for us.

Neddy · Post #12 » by **Neddy** » Sat Mar 1, 2014 6:34 am

Quake Griffin wrote:
Neddy wrote:looking at that schedule, Rocks and Blaz are screwed.

and agree that we can be in top 2 or 3 by the end of march. but i prefer we get the second over 3rd, since we don't seem to matchup well against the Oakland club.

u think we don't match up well with them? or we match up better with other teams.

that team seriously puts NO FEAR in my heart.

CP3's weakness defensively is guarding against taller PGs and guys with a quick trigger. Curry is both, although not very strong and can't guard chris either. Klay is a very long player both vertically and laterally, and our 2 guards don't match up well against him.

it will come down to which pair of guards can defend better against the other guys in 7 game series imo.

Quake Griffin · Post #13 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Mar 1, 2014 2:27 pm

Neddy wrote:
Quake Griffin wrote:
Neddy wrote:looking at that schedule, Rocks and Blaz are screwed.

and agree that we can be in top 2 or 3 by the end of march. but i prefer we get the second over 3rd, since we don't seem to matchup well against the Oakland club.

u think we don't match up well with them? or we match up better with other teams.

that team seriously puts NO FEAR in my heart.

CP3's weakness defensively is guarding against taller PGs and guys with a quick trigger. Curry is both, although not very strong and can't guard chris either. Klay is a very long player both vertically and laterally, and our 2 guards don't match up well against him.

it will come down to which pair of guards can defend better against the other guys in 7 game series imo.

i hate the entire notion of your post.
i think CP guards Curry well...save for that 1st game of the year...that was a team failure IMO.
i really do believe the way we guarded him on Christmas is how it would look most of the time in a series.....mostly because I don't believe Curry has handles like CP or Crawford to go by people 1 on 1....his handles are more crafty to fake you out off a screen or to get a little step back space to shoot....when CP gets in that guy's chest and pressures him, that kid doesnt deal well with it..well he doesnt deal well with quicker guards pressuring him in general....hell, even that 1st game we turned him over 11 times because of that pressure.

Klay is gonna be put on CP3.
i get Mark Jackson's use of it since Pippen torchered him in the 98 ECF.
but Klay isn't Pippen and CP owns Klay...thats a difference of 6 to 8 inches that seems advantageous to GSW that isn't.

i do agree that if we're not healthy, it would kinda suck to play them without Redick....but that's as far as it goes.

OKC, SAS and Memphis kinda because of the rivalry/ beating involved in that series.
nobody else scares me.

LACtdom · Post #14 » by **LACtdom** » Sat Mar 1, 2014 10:15 pm

Is anyone else worried about how bad we are on the road? What happens later in the playoffs when we have to win on the road. Are we just tired from travelling when we play on the road or is home court advantage really that important?

Quake Griffin · Post #15 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Mar 1, 2014 10:50 pm

LACtdom wrote:Is anyone else worried about how bad we are on the road? What happens later in the playoffs when we have to win on the road. Are we just tired from travelling when we play on the road or is home court advantage really that important?

As Shaq used to say...

win at home and go .500 on the road.
that in itself will have u around 50 wins.
we're 16-15 with 10 more road games left and a clutch win in OKC.

considering the X-mas game, the Portland game after that and the Foye 3 pointer....we could easily be 19-12.

Chronz · Post #16 » by **Chronz** » Mon Mar 3, 2014 10:42 am

I would rather play Phoenix but something tells me they might slip out altogether and leave us back with a rematch vs Memphis. Id rather play Golden State but Memphis would be fun too.

Post #17 » by **QRich3** » Mon Mar 3, 2014 12:43 pm

If we can fight out a win tomorrow in Phoenix and have a good game against Golden State, We could easily string a 15 game winning streak that'd give us a lot of confidence to go into the post season with a good seed

Tudalop · Post #18 » by **Tudalop** » Mon Mar 3, 2014 12:50 pm

I can't see the Clippers in #2. Spurs is a very confident team. They will win all winnable matches, and fight for all the others.

TheNewEra · Post #19 » by **TheNewEra** » Mon Mar 3, 2014 4:16 pm

Damn I was hoping Dallas would have won that game yesterday. Need to take care of buisness tomorrow against a very tough Suns team.

Chronz · Post #20 » by **Chronz** » Tue Mar 4, 2014 8:46 am

Portland gave one away today, they have a brutal stretch coming, time to gain some ground.