# *** Race to The Playoffs ***



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Realistically, the 4th spot is the highest we can go since we would have to win our division to be a top 3 seed. With Sacramento's loss tonight Houston has moved into the 5th seed in the West, which would mean a first round playoff against Dallas. I would much rather play Seattle, but with the way we are playing right now no team really worries me.

1. *San Antonio* 49 - 15 _.766_
2. *Phoenix* 48 - 15 _.762_
3. *Seattle* 43 - 20 _.683_
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4. *Dallas* 42 - 22 _.656_
5. *Houston* 39 - 25 _.609_
6. *Sacramento* 40 - 26 _.606_
7. *Memphis* 37 - 27 _.578_


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## FirstRocket (Mar 10, 2005)

We should not worry about who we play in the playoff. To proof ourselves as a Championship team, we must win against the elite teams. Therefore, whether it is Dallas, San Antonio or Pheonix the team must have the complete confident to play against them.

Remember, if we are great, other teams should be afraid of us and not Rockets trying to avoid certain teams. We can't win against Dallas then we will try again next year. I want Rockets to be able to win against any teams that come between us and the Championship.:yes:


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Dallas hasn't been looking too good recently, so I wouldn't mind playing them. Mind you, Seattle hasn't looked any better.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Don Nelson resigns as the head coach of the Mavericks, now coached by the very capable Avery Johnson. This doesn't hurt or help our chances, just a note to make.


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## TiMacMania (Mar 8, 2005)

who cares??All we want: finish 6th seed and play the Sonics... :banana:


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

*seeding 4 the rox*

this is to talk about wich team we will play with what seed and how far we will get.

i say we get 5th seed beat dallas in the first round with our great d and fight our way through the 7th and get as far as the west confrence. i also hope we play dallas in the 1st round bc they play no d in a 7gm series thats going to b 1 of the main keys



1.suns
2.spurs
3.sonics
4.mavs
5.rockets
6.kings
7.grizz
8.nugz

looking at the nxt gms i feel that we have a hard schdule 2 tough 4 gm road trips and 2 real hard gm at home...with the suns and heat, i say we go 11 out of 17 wich i feel is still capable to win the 5th spot. every gm is a must win for good seeding
1.suns/nugz
2.spurs/grizz
3.sonics/kings
4.rockets/mavs

1.rox/suns
2.spurs/sonics

west
spurs/rox
long shot yes but so has this season so far


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

*Re: seeding 4 the rox*

If we shoot this badly in consecutive games again in the playoffs, we're as good as dead. We've got to find an alternate route when our shots aren't falling (not, as T-Mac and James did, continue to toss them up, hoping that they'll eventually start falling).


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## Gambino (Feb 11, 2004)

> also hope we play dallas in the 1st round bc they play no d in a 7gm series thats going to b 1 of the main keys


Don't understand why people are harping on this. Dallas is a much much better defensive team than all of the past 4 years combined. When healthy they are top 10 in the league. They also play much better D under AJ then they do under Nelson. The problem with Dallas is staying healthy. Before Damp they were in the top 10. Since then Dallas has dropped out of the top 10 to 16. Damp comes back in about a week or two and Dallas D should be considerably better when he returns.


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## Smooth Lotion (Jan 7, 2005)

*Well atleast...*

the Grizzlies and Kings both lost today. :cheers: 

Tied in the loss column with Sac for that number 5 spot.

McGrady's shooting in the last 4 games -->

vs. Golden State: 9-29
vs Portland: 6-15
vs Boston: 8-22
vs Minnesota: 4-22

Didn't get to the line nearly enough in those games.


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## Cometsbiggestfan (May 14, 2003)

The way we're playing now I doubt we'll go past the first round or climb higher than 6th seed.


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## eaglewu (Feb 21, 2005)

spurs might drop to 3rd spot, 6th seed isn't good for that case.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

1. *Phoenix* 52 - 17 _.754_
2. *San Antonio* 51 - 18 _.739_
3. *Seattle* 48 - 20 _.706_
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4. *Dallas* 46 - 23 _.666_
5. *Houston* 42 - 27 _.609_
6. *Sacramento* 43 - 28 _.606_
7. *Memphis* 39 - 29 _.574_
8. *Denver* 38 - 30 _.559_


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## Gambino (Feb 11, 2004)

> 4. Dallas 46 - 23 .666


Outstanding.but we're actually.667 :biggrin: lol
I think Houston needs to look at Denver now. They are some good ball right now.


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## b smoke (Apr 5, 2005)

we gon stay at5th and play dallas i doubt we will win cause they have homecourt and tmac is playing horrible which may stop come playoff time


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## b smoke (Apr 5, 2005)

6th seed wont do us any good sonics will have lewis back and it would be impossible to win in a seven game series dallas is a different story they have no d


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

b smoke said:


> 6th seed wont do us any good sonics will have lewis back and it would be impossible to win in a seven game series dallas is a different story they have no d


you should be more worried about us even making the playoffs or falling to 8 than getting 5th. Dallas is a very good defensive team, don't believe the myth.


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## TRACIELOVESCOMETS (May 14, 2003)

I hope we get Seattle IF we even make paly-offs.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

TRACIELOVESCOMETS said:


> I hope we get Seattle IF we even make paly-offs.


we will make the playoffs! and we will face dallas and beat them in the first round mark my words :cheers:


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

*Sacramento* 47 - 30 _.610_ (--)
*Houston* 46 - 31 _.597_ (1 game behind)
*Denver* 45 - 31 _.592_ (1.5 games behind)
*Memphis* 43 - 32 _.532_ (3 games behind)



Next week won't be easy... @ Seattle, Memphis, then the red-hot Nuggets.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

unlikley but we could have hc in the first round! if we win more gms then seatle and we get the 6th then the first round we get hca! just reilzed that just b/c you get 3rd seed doesnt mean you have hca. we need to win the rest of our gms and seattle to only win 1.


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## mcgrady001 (Apr 8, 2005)

*Re: seeding 4 the rox*

this is wats gonna happen. McGrady wins all the playoff games for Houston. Its very simple if u think about it


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## Sik15 (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: seeding 4 the rox*

Damn denver tied with us nwo right,cause i think they won yesterday,we have to play them game for game.


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## ThaShark316 (May 7, 2004)

Home Court in the playoffs? Bet you guys didn't think it was possible huh?

Look at this...



> *Sonic boon*
> 
> The Rockets could have more than playoff seeding at stake in their final four regular-season games. They also could be playing for first-round home-court advantage, which 10 days ago was thought to be out of reach.
> 
> ...


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3132196

HOME COURT?!?!? WHA!?!??! :clap:


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

i said that like a week ago lol look below


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

5. *Sacramento* 48 - 30 _.615_ (--)
6. *Houston* 48 - 31 _.608_ (1/2 game behind)
7. *Denver* 47 - 31 _.603_ (1 game behind)

It's more than likely our game against Denver will determine who gets to play the Sonics in the first round. So ALOT to play for on Saturday.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

> The Rockets will close the season with home games against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night and Seattle on Wednesday night.
> The Nuggets will play at Phoenix on Monday night and close with a home game against Portland on Tuesday night
> The Kings will play at Utah on Monday night and wrap up the regular season Wednesday night at home against league-leading Phoenix.


So who owns the tie-breaker btw us and the Kings? I presume if we have the same record we'd still be in 6th, right? 
Sactown can't seem to beat the Suns, and I doubt they'd be trying very hard either... so that means that we must lose to either Seattle or LAC for the best chance of staying in 6th place. If we lose both games we may be bounced back to 7th.... man this is tight!

As much as I'd like Houston to play Seattle in the first round, I think our team needs to be mentally prepared to play anyone, and believe they can beat anyone. Dallas will be a tough as hell match-up, but if we survive Dallas in the first round that should really boost team moral, and give us a chance at a real playoff run.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Yao Mania said:


> So who owns the tie-breaker btw us and the Kings? I presume if we have the same record we'd still be in 6th, right?
> Sactown can't seem to beat the Suns, and I doubt they'd be trying very hard either... so that means that we must lose to either Seattle or LAC for the best chance of staying in 6th place. If we lose both games we may be bounced back to 7th.... man this is tight!
> 
> As much as I'd like Houston to play Seattle in the first round, I think our team needs to be mentally prepared to play anyone, and believe they can beat anyone. Dallas will be a tough as hell match-up, but if we survive Dallas in the first round that should really boost team moral, and give us a chance at a real playoff run.


We own the tie-breaker between the Kings so yeah we would stay ahead of them if we finish with an identical record. I think as long as we get decent contributions from our non-McGrady guards we should be able to beat Seattle or Dallas. The biggest problem with Dallas is the Dampier factor on Yao... we'll have to see how well he plays under this kind of pressure. But first we'll have to get him touches.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Quotes from Houston Chronicle:



> Maybe the Rockets really mean it. Perhaps it really doesn't matter whom they play in the playoffs.





> A win against either the Clippers on Monday or the Sonics on Wednesday would make the Rockets either the sixth seed (matched in the first round against the SuperSonics) or the fifth seed (to open the playoffs against the Mavericks).
> 
> "If (the fifth seed) is there for us to take, you know what, we'll take it," Tracy McGrady said. "If we move up to five or stay sixth, it really doesn't matter.
> 
> "When those guys (off the Rockets' bench) are rolling, and myself and Yao (Ming) are rolling, I feel nobody can beat us."


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

i feel that it is true rockets cant be beat if every one is doing good, but i dont know if the rockets can do that for a 7gm series. needless to say i feel we will beat dallas in the first beat suns in second and prob lose in the west finals, but anything can happen in the post season, as for now i hope we get number 50 sooN!!!!!!!!


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Talk about knowing my team, check out my prediction for the Rockets before the season began:

http://www.basketballboards.net/forum/showthread.php?t=119618&page=1



> Southwest Division
> 
> 1. San Antonio Spurs 54-28 (2)
> <b>2. Houston Rockets 49-33 (4)</b>
> ...


Well Dallas is the 4th seed, and chances are we will win at least one more game, but that's pretty darn close! But here was my playoff prediction....



> 5. Dallas Mavericks over 4. Houston Rockets ( )


Let's hope I am wrong....


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Nice predictions Yao Mania! I had Houston finishing 5th in a seperate WC prediction thread (http://www.basketballboards.net/forum/showthread.php?t=107175).


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

i had the rox in 4th place right above dallas and had them winning 50 gms i was close to but that doesnt matter as long as we beat dallas!


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## kfranco (Apr 22, 2005)

i hate the fact that they are going to play the Mavs. I really wanted Seattle, but its all good.
Rox in 7


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