2009 NBA Playoffs Countdown Thread (3 Days)

Jason Terry is a beast.

Thanks for winning the game for us,
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Originally Posted by franchise3

Hornets don't want it with the Rockets.

They better hope the Rockets inch up to #2
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Seriously. I don't know who we can play in the first round where it won't be a one-and-done for us.
 
Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

I hate saying this... But let's go Spurs on Wednesday night...
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Moreso Lakers IMO, let's guarantee we get at least the 7th seed until we think about moving up to 6th.
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Then again, if the Spurs win W and we beat the Rockets, it won't really matter, but hell go both of them!
 
Originally Posted by TrillipinoTrapstar

The Heat are going cold right now. I would like a matchup with the Hawks though. Two of my favorite current NBA players at it (D Wade and Joe Johnson) would be awesome. I don't want Orlando.
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gonna be an exciting first round!
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Originally Posted by outacontrol music

DET v BOS ftw
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Is it possible that we may take on DWade in the 2nd Round????? wow..... I think the Heat can get the Hawks.... Out West I would love to see LA vs Denver in theWCF......
 
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This link is probably better: http://www.blazersedge.co...pril-14th-seeding-report

OK, so here's the grand seeding news following Monday night's games. We can now pin down the exact possibilities remaining. Drum roll please...

Everybody won tonight.

That means the standings look like this:
  • 2. Denver 54-27 (@Portland)
  • 3. San Antonio 53-28 (New Orleans)
  • 4. Houston 53-28 (@Dallas)
  • 5. Portland 53-28 (Denver)
  • 6. New Orleans 49-32 (@San Antonio)
  • 7. Dallas 49-32 (Houston)
  • 8. Utah 48-33 (@L*kers)
The biggest development here from Portland's standpoint is that the Nuggets have now clinched the Northwest Division. The best Portland can do is tie Denver with a victory on Wednesday. Even though that would leave the teams tied head-to-head Denver would own the tiebreaker due to a 1-game advantage in division record.

Because of this Portland can no longer get the 2[sup]nd[/sup] seed in the West. They could finish in the top four mix but they would always lose out to Los Angeles and Denver. Portland is now locked into one of three seeds: 3[sup]rd[/sup], 4[sup]th[/sup], or 5[sup]th[/sup].

Here's how it shakes out. As always...disclaimer...this is to the best of my knowledge and ability. I can explain to you exactly why this works and exactly how we got here, but divining the rules and procedures is a strenuous matter even for people who should know better than I. I am 99.999% certain this is correct, but we're not going to know for sure if there are any curveballs until Wednesday.

If Portland Wins Wednesday Night

If the Blazers win Wednesday night they cannot finish lower than 4[sup]th[/sup] in the West. Portland would finish with a 54-28 record. One of three things would happen with Houston and San Antonio.

1. Both Houston and San Antonio would win, which would invoke a four-way tie as Denver, San Antonio, Houston, and Portland would all finish the year at 54-28. The results of such a tie are explained in detail near the bottom of the post here. The order of finish would be
  • 2. Houston (54-28)*
  • 3. Denver (54-28)*
  • 4. Portland (54-28)
  • 5. San Antonio (54-28)
(*denotes Division Winner)

2. One or the other of them would lose. In that case the team that lost would be one game behind the Blazers, Nuggets, and the team that won. The losing team would fall out of the top four, earning the 5[sup]th[/sup] seed in the West.

Houston owns the head-to-head tiebreaker against Denver by virtue of a 3-1 season series. Denver owns the head-to-head tiebreaker against San Antonio because they went 2-1 versus the Spurs. Thus...

A. If San Antonio loses but Houston wins the seeding would go:
  • 2. Houston (54-28)*
  • 3. Denver (54-28)*
  • 4. Portland (54-28)
  • 5. San Antonio (53-29)
B. If Houston loses but San Antonio wins the seeding would go:
  • 2. Denver (54-28)*
  • 3. San Antonio (54-28)*
  • 4. Portland (54-28)
  • 5. Houston (53-28)
Keep in mind in the second scenario that even though Portland owns the head-to-head against San Antonio division winners win ties with non-division-winners. Therefore San Antonio would get the higher seed.

3. Both Houston and San Antonio could lose. In this case Houston would again claim the Southwest Division as explained above. Now, however, the seeding would look like this:
  • 2. Denver (54-28)*
  • 3. Portland (54-28)
  • 4. Houston (53-29)*
  • 5. San Antonio (53-29)
This latter scenario will cause some confusion among people because of the division winner thing. There are two, separate issues which involve division winners. One is the tiebreaker rules, which say a division winner comes out ahead in ties. The other is the seeding rules, which say that the top four seeds in a conference shall consist of the three division winners plus the team with the best record among non-division-winners. Those four teams will be seeded by record, regardless of division-winner status.

In Scenario 3 above Houston would make the top four seeds because it is a division winner. But once there the Rockets would be seeded by record. Since their record is worse than Portland, Denver, and L.A. they'd end up fourth.

In Scenario 2B above San Antonio and Denver both make it into the top four with L.A. by virtue of their division wins. Portland also makes it as the non-division-winning team with the best record. However in this case Portland and San Antonio are tied in record. That tie is broken by the tiebreaker. The first tiebreaker rule is that division winners prevail over non-division-winners. Therefore San Antonio gets the nod.

Not confusing the effect of the division win in Scenarios 2B and 3 is important.

If Portland Loses Wednesday Night

This is where things get more hairy.

First of all, if the Blazers lose to the Nuggets then Denver will have sole possession of the 2[sup]nd[/sup] seed. Houston and San Antonio would finish at least a game behind them no matter what. So we can take Denver out of the equation here and just deal with the Rockets, Spurs, and Blazers.

We'll run our scenarios again.

1. If Houston and San Antonio both win then Houston would take the Southwest Division and the standings would look like this:
  • 2. Denver (55-27)*
  • 3. Houston (54-28)*
  • 4. San Antonio (54-28)
  • 5. Portland (53-29)
2A. If San Antonio loses but Houston wins then Houston would win their division. San Antonio and Portland would finish with identical records and neither would be a division winner. Portland wins that battle by virtue of the 3-1 head-to-head edge versus the Spurs in the regular season. Thus:
  • 2. Denver (55-27)*
  • 3. Houston (54-28)*
  • 4. Portland (53-29)
  • 5. San Antonio (53-29)
2B. If Houston loses but San Antonio wins then San Antonio would claim the division. Portland and Houston would go head-to-head with a tie record and Houston would come out ahead by virtue of their 2-1 regular-season mark against the Blazers. Thus:
  • 2. Denver (55-27)*
  • 3. San Antonio (54-28)*
  • 4. Houston (53-29)
  • 5. Portland (53-29)
3. If both Houston and San Antonio lose alongside the Blazers then Houston would win the division over San Antonio for reasons explained above. Portland would also win the tiebreaker with the Spurs.
  • 2. Denver (55-27)*
  • 3. Houston (53-29)*
  • 4. Portland (53-29)
  • 5. San Antonio (53-29)
The Cliffs Notes Version

If you just want to keep it simple, here's the shorthand.

IF PORTLAND WINS they get the 4[sup]th[/sup] seed UNLESS both Houston and San Antonio lose, in which case it's the 3[sup]rd[/sup] seed.

IF PORTLAND LOSES they get:

--The 5[sup]th[/sup] seed if San Antonio wins.

--The 4[sup]th[/sup] seed if San Antonio loses.

Conclusion

The best thing to root for would be a Blazer win, of course, but after that root for New Orleans to win on the road against San Antonio. If you can get that, then be greedy and root for Houston to lose also.

Potential Opponents

In each case where Portland wins the 4[sup]th[/sup] or 5[sup]th[/sup] seed you can already see their matchup listed, as 4 matches up against 5 in the playoffs. In every scenario but one listed above the opponent is Houston or San Antonio. However there is that one scenario where both Houston and San Antonio lose their final games while Portland wins against Denver, leaving the Blazers in the 3[sup]rd[/sup] seed. Who could be the opponent in the 6-slot in that scenario?

Looking at the current standings you see New Orleans and Dallas tied in the 6-7 spots with 49-32 records. However if you look at the opponents of those two teams in their final games...gasp! They are none other than our old friends Houston and San Antonio. In order to make our Blazers-in-3[sup]rd[/sup]-seed scenario work both Houston and San Antonio must lose. That would leave the Hornets and Mavericks with identical 50-32 records. Neither would be division winners. The Hornets hold a 3-1 season series edge over the Mavericks. So in that scenario Portland's opponent would be the New Orleans Hornets.

The Spurs, Rockets, and Hornets are the only possible opponents left for the Blazers.

Mere mortals can feel free to stop reading at this point, as you now know everything you need to know about Wednesday's games and the potential outcomes. Those who are truly gluttons for punishment can click past the jump. I'm going to add an appendix of common mistakes I've seen when determining seeding, leading to all of the confusion and wrong information you're seeing.
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Holy friggin hell I can not figure out that post above.
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Ima just wait til thursday and read the paper.
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I was really hoping to see detroit play bettr towards the end of the season but hve been playing horrible... I want utah first round b/c our play n the firstround could determine if we get a ship this year Cleveland is jus
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right now
 
Originally Posted by TrillipinoTrapstar

Originally Posted by TrillipinoTrapstar

The Heat are going cold right now. I would like a matchup with the Hawks though. Two of my favorite current NBA players at it (D Wade and Joe Johnson) would be awesome. I don't want Orlando.
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gonna be an exciting first round!
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Sure is.

Who you gonna root for?
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Originally Posted by miamin2

Originally Posted by TrillipinoTrapstar

Originally Posted by TrillipinoTrapstar

The Heat are going cold right now. I would like a matchup with the Hawks though. Two of my favorite current NBA players at it (D Wade and Joe Johnson) would be awesome. I don't want Orlando.
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gonna be an exciting first round!
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Sure is.

Who you gonna root for?
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whoever wins
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Big games tomorrow. Who owns the tiebreaker between the Nuggets and Rockets?

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@ the possibilities of tied records.
 
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