way excited. funny how the same thing played out last year. didn't we meet in the last regular season game? I remember Van Gundy not playing the starters.
Best guess at matchups: #1 Hornets vs #8 Golden State #2 Spurs vs #7 Dallas #3 Lakers vs #6 Rockets #4 Jazz vs #5 Suns I am projecting the Warriors to beat the Nuggets Thursday night. In addition, I am projecting the Suns to beat the Rockets Saturday night. Lastly, I project the Spurs to beat the Lakers on Sunday night. The NBA is praying the Suns finish 6th and the Lakers finish 3rd to get the Shaq-Kobe matchup.
I like the Nuggets (too much star power) over the Warriors and I like the Lakers as the 2 seed. the rest is feasible, though. With the way Phoenix is playing, I can see them winning out and being the 2-seed themselves.
people are too naive about that. Golden State is still the kings of no defense and give up more per game than Denver. I trust AI and Melo more than I do Monta Ellis and BD.
Utah was 16-22 on the road before they humiliated New Orleans last night. The Nuggets are 7-3 in the last 10 compared to 5-5 for Golden State. Golden State is also just 26-12 at home, 9th best in the west. Looking at the schedules, Denver may win and still not get in. They still got Utah and Houston, too.
I tried to assess the matchups and guess who would move on to round two and on...but it's tough this year. This is going to be a great year for the playoffs. All these teams should have the confidence they can win it all. It should also make for a very interesting off-season as well. As teams are eliminated they'll know they weren't that far from winning it all. There's just not a lot of separation between the top 10 teams in the league this year. I'm curious to see what the lines in Vegas look like right now.
