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Return to blog listing -> Playoff Picture: April 9th
sarahhecht

Apr 09

Playoff Picture: April 9th

By sarahhecht Posted in: playoffs
BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!

Last night the Rose Garden was rocking and I’m willing to bet Trail Blazers fans everywhere are still riding the emotional wave from pounding the L.A. Lakers. I know I am!

Portland got down to business and looked like a playoff ready team. Read Mike Barrett’s recap Blazers Run Away From Lakers for all the juicy details.

The eight teams representing the Western Conference are set. Now it’s the fight for seeding. Second through 4th is a mess, as is 6th through 8th. What are your predictions? Or preferences? After last night I wouldn’t be surprised to see more people at ease with facing the Lakers in the first round, though I'm not one of them.

Now it’s a three-day break before we host the Memphis Grizzlies in the Rose Garden on Tuesday.

Rest up Blazer fans. The next few weeks will be filled with playoff adrenaline and the 6th man needs to be out in full force.

RIP CITY!

Last night's scores and effects:

The  Memphis Grizzlies beat the  Sacramento Kings 101-96 in Memphis. The Grizzlies clinched a playoff berth and sit in the 8th seed in the Western Conference. They trail New Orleans by one full game.

The  New Orleans Hornets topped the  Phoenix Suns 109-97  in New Orleans. The Hornets held their 7th seed in the West. They're behind the Trail Blazers by half a game.

The  Oklahoma City Thunder downed the  Denver Nuggets 104-89 in Oklahoma City. The Thunder sit in 4th in the West and trail Dallas by one full game. The 2nd through 4th seeds are only separated by two full games. It’s not too late for combinations of wins and losses to jumble their seeding.

The  Dallas Mavericks defeated the  L.A. Clippers 107-96 in Dallas. The Mavs snapped their four-game losing streak. They’re in 3rd in the West. In the middle of a seeding battle they trail the Lakers in 2nd by one full game and lead the Thunder in 4th by the same.

The  Portland Trail Blazers pounded the  L.A. Lakers 93-86 in Portland. BEAT LA! The Trail Blazers maintained the 6th seed in the Western Conference. They're behind Denver in the 5th seed by one and a half games and have a slight half game lead over New Orleans in 7th.



Today’s games with Western Conference playoff teams:

 Utah Jazz (37-42) vs.  San Antonio Spurs (60-19) The Spurs are a lock for 1st in the Western Conference. They play today to keep a lead over Chicago in the East. San Antonio needs to have a better record to ensure home-court advantage should the two meet in the playoffs.

 Minnesota Timberwolves (17-62) vs.  Denver Nuggets (48-31) Denver needs to bounce back after their loss last night to Oklahoma City. Win or lose they’ll stay in 5th in the West, but a loss closes their lead over the Trial Blazers to only one game.

Here are the playoff match-ups as of today:



(Tables courtesy of NBA.com)

5 Comments

  1. Miss sarah:

    I believe we will retain 6th spot. Grizzlies 7 and NOH 8. According to Mike Rice, we will beat the Grizzlies tueday, but the Griz will beat NOH tomorrow and the Mavs would beat NOH the last game of the season. Rice is so sure he guaranteed it with his house that Casey said he didn't have. Well you know, you were there. Anyway since his prediction was right on even before the season started and I am tired of wondering. I am going with his prediction which means we only need one of the two games.

    by Hg on 4/9/2011 10:09 AM

  2. Sweet i was fumbling around on my own trying to figure out what the possibilities still were for seeding then you came in and saved me sarah. But check this out NOH's last game is against dallas. what if dallas purposefully lost the game as to not have to face us? Would dallas do that, assuming the thunder would not overtake them or if they did not have the chance to pass up the lakers for second seed. Oh! can this article become a daily occurrence for this last week? i don't know where else to turn in this stressful onslaught.

    by Lapinnoir on 4/9/2011 10:15 AM

  3. @Lapinnoir I'm glad you found this post. It's been a daily occurrence for the last month! Hahaha, so of course it will continue.

    As for Dallas throwing the last game... That thought crossed my mind as well so I did some research. Dallas and Portland are 2-2 this season and NOLA leads the series over them 2-1 with one more matchup.

    It's hard to say who Dallas would "choose" if given the opportunity. Here's the way the matchups have played out so far, you decide:

    Dallas vs. NOLA
    11/15 Win 98-95
    11/17 Loss 99-97
    3/9 Loss 93-92

    Dallas vs. Portland
    12/15 Win 103-98
    1/4 Win 84-81
    3/15 Loss 101-104
    4/3 Loss 104-96

    The pattern here is Dallas is on losing streaks with both teams. Though all of the games were very close, the Dallas vs NOLA matchups were closer.

    I know there are a variety of factors that would go into a Dallas "decision," but I'm sure they would look at this years games. Also, if I'm not mistaken, NOLA has won nine of the last 11 games with the Mavs and Portland has won five of the last 11.

    All interesting things to consider...

    by sarahhecht on 4/9/2011 11:25 AM

  4. talk about throwing the game...

    would the griz also throw the game against NOLA so they dont have to face the Lakers? i cant imagine they will battle very hard to secure wins in that case. unless, i guess they can still climb into 6th if they beat NOLA and us. hm.

    by Symokoto on 4/9/2011 1:04 PM

  5. Sarah here is a link for some who thinks Mavs will throw a game
    http://www.oregonlive.com/nba/index.ssf/2011/04/western_conference_playoff_pic.html

    If OKC beats LAL tomorrow and wins the rest and the Mavs lose the the NOH They would be tied with OKC, I don't know who has the tie breaker. But the Mavs could drop down and play Denver.

    If the LAL Loses to OKC and the SAS, and Mavs win all theirs and OKC wins all theirs, Then the Mavs would move back to 2nd with the win with NOH and still have to play them.

    I don't think any body throws games, it is too risky, other then SAS.

    by Hg on 4/9/2011 9:40 PM
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