Monty Williams often talks about taking things one game at a time, or one day at a time, while dismissing questions in which his only alternative is to speculate about things beyond his control. Well the Hornets are down to one game, so they are sure to be focusing on what it’s implications will be.
With two days left of games to determine NBA playoff seeding, the New Orleans Hornets get a day off, if you can call it that. In between questions about why Chris Paul scored zero points (he didn’t play that much and only took six shots) and practicing (for obvious reasons), the team will likely find some time tonight to sit back and watch two games that will impact where they head this weekend for some playoff basketball.
Here’s how it all breaks down:
New Orleans will be seeded:
- #6 if Hornets win, Blazers lose both games and Grizzlies lose to Clippers.
- #7 if Hornets win and Blazers beat Grizzlies OR if Grizzlies lose both games OR if Hornets win and Grizzlies win both games and Blazers lose to Warriors OR if Hornets win, Blazers lose to Grizzlies and beat Warriors and Grizzlies lose to Clippers.
- #8 if Hornets lose and Grizzlies beat Blazers OR if Grizzlies win both games and Blazers beat Warriors OR if Hornets lose, Blazers beat Grizzlies and Grizzlies beat Clippers.
Still confused? Look at the games tonight, and what their implications are-
Portland vs Memphis
If Portland wins…
- Portland lock down the sixth seed.
- New Orleans and Memphis will be tied for the seventh seed, with New Orleans holding the tie-breaker. In that case, the seventh and eighth seed would come down to what happens on Wednesday, with Memphis starting their game after New Orleans is done. With a New Orleans win over Dallas, they could win the seventh seed outright, and Memphis would be locked into the eight seed. If New Orleans loses to Dallas, Memphis would control it’s own destiny.
If Memphis wins…
- New Orleans could still clinch the sixth seed with a win over Dallas, a Portland loss to Golden State, and a Memphis loss to the Clippers on Wednesday.
- Memphis would tie Portland for the sixth seed, and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, so winning their next game, against the Clippers, would secure them the sixth seed, with Portland able to secure the seventh seed with a win against Golden State or a New Orleans loss to Dallas.
San Antonio vs Los Angeles Lakers
San Antonio has locked up the first seed regardless of what happens.
If San Antonio wins…
- Dallas could lock up the second seed with a win over New Orleans Wednesday
- The Lakers would fall into a tie for the third seed, owning the tie-breaker with OKC. Another loss on Wednesday against the Kings coupled with an OKC victory over Milwaukee, would mean LA takes the fourth seed, OKC takes the third, and if Dallas beats New Orleans, they would take the second. If Dallas lost to New Orleans, they would win up in the third seed.
- The Lakers could win beat Sacramento, or watch OKC lose, to secure the third seed.
If Los Angeles wins…
- Lakers would clinch the second seed with another win Wednesday against Sacramento, or a New Orleans win over Dallas.
- Dallas would take the second seed with a win over New Orleans and an LA loss to Sacramento.
- Dallas would take the third seed with a win, or an OKC loss.
- OKC would take the third seed with a win over Milwaukee and a Hornets win over Dallas.
So yeah…
We’ll take another look tomorrow, but for now, it’s time to just watch and enjoy. Like my old friend says when we go to the track and can’t figure out his bets, “Go horses!”
–
Some thoughts on this CP3 to Charlotte mumbo-jumbo.
Lately people seem to be getting more frustrated about reports like this, because, well, almost everything on the internet is trash, and eventually we are starting to realize it. You can go anywhere you want and find things saying whatever it is you want to read, both reasonable and unreasonable.
Although the story was ridiculed by Chris Paul himself (actually making it an even bigger story), it will probably go down as one of the most read things that author produced all year, even though it’s just Chris Paul being polite about one of his idols.
Maybe I should change up how I do things…
Me: “Chris, If you could choose one Arena to play basketball in in New York city, which one would it be?”
Chris: “Probably Madison Square Garden. That’s definitely the best place to play.”
Headline: “Chris Paul: Madison Square Garden “the best place to play.”
Result: 500% jump in page views, promotion, executive bathroom with bidet.
Stuff like this creates lots of that internet money because people want to believe that Chris Paul is coming to their team. They want to imagine, if only for a few minutes, that Michael Jordan’s lottery-bound club will somehow be able to snag Chris freaking Paul. I play the lottery on occasion to get that same feeling of false hope.
While I understand why people both want to both read and write nonsensical garbage, I still stand firmly in opposition to it. There is already enough to talk about in basketball, both on and of the court.
28 responses to “Tonight’s NBA Games From the Hornets Perspective”
Word is Pop is resting top players tonight.
Looks like Memphis is resting Randolph and Allen.
Yep, likely outcomes are Lakers and Blazers victories tonight. Assuming Memphis will also tank tomorrow night (and thus locking up the 8th seed), this means two things – #1, we tank against Dallas tomorrow. #2, we root HARD for our boy MT5 and Sacramento to upset the Lakers at home tomorrow night! That would make Dallas the 2nd seed and us the 7th seed.
my head is spinning with all this playoff seeding stuff. lol. i was hoping it would be a little simpler with a game and a day left of regular season basketball.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
Touche, sir.
Ain’t that the truth?
Did I post that out-loud?
Nah, didn’t mean it like that . . . just bringing that Yang to the table, knowhatumsayin?
I’m as obsessive and analytical as the next guy, and this sort of stuff is supposed to be fun . . . but for those who are overloaded . . . Serenity Now!
I just heard Bynum hurt his knee again is that so?
yes, not sure if serious though
hyperextended knee. scheduled for mri tomorrow morning
Ok I just saw it. Didn’t look too bad.
Thanks SadHornetsFan.
no problem QueenBee. looks like portland will win tonight locking up the six spot.
Sigh. 😕
go kings tomorrow night.
The Western Conference is just too crazy. Nothing is settled in this conference until the final night of regular season. Crazy.
Chuck just said, regarding the West: “Everybody wants to play the Hornets.”
The only thing about rooting for the kings means that we Also would need the Hornets to lose at Dallas to avoid the lakers matchup. Dallas would then be able to get #2. The Hornets would get 7 or 8 depending on the Grizzlies.
the guys on tnt are sayin nobody wants to play the trailblazers, and nobody wants to play the grizzlies…everybody wants to play the hornets. i know everyone’s watchin tonight. prove them wrong. let’s go Hornets.
Hornets will probably lose tonight. Just as they did back in the last reg game in 08 and had Dallas then saying they wanted the Hornets.
Those guys on TNT saying nobody wants to play the Trailblazers but the Hornets went 3-1 this season against the Trailblazers. Perhaps it was the Monty factor of knowing Portland I don’t know but while the Trailblazers are pretty darn good, everybody ain’t scared of the Blazers.
I was surprised when Reggie Miller said 2 teams can give the Lakers trouble and he mentioned the Hornets being one of them. I said yeah Reggie, right. (rolls eyes). LOL.
Edited by 42
Lance, be more creative.
I understand your anger, we need to save these for big occasions, not a quip by Sir Charles.
Part of me wants to get mad at hearing the comments on TNT about everyone wanting to play the hornets but then my brain realizes that the analysts 100% correct. Every team does wanna play the hornets. We are w/o our most consistent player, our best player is timid most games, and we have the 2nd slowest paced offense in the league. We lack quality depth, and have a rookie coach so yes the hornets would be the choice for most teams
Yeah i get what you’re saying but still…i get mad when “experts” talk about us like we didn’t work hard to get into the playoffs like we have no business being there. But if we end up getting Dallas and winning then they will be on our jocks.
They probably won’t be on our jocks. If we beat Dallas they’ll just go back to talking about how Cuban spent money and the Mavs are still soft. We won’t get credit at all. But if they beat the Hornets, it’ll be because they did what they were supposed to do. Screw em all is what I say. LOL!!
Hoping that Phil rests his guys tonight….I mean if i’m a coach i would especially after what happen to Bynum last night. The Kings and the Clippers are going to play hard because its both their last home game. I hope MT5 realizes that he still has a great fan base here and goes bannanas on the Lakers for a W, I praying for it actually. LOL. It sucks that we are playing before them tho cuz it will make tanking this game worth nothing. And even if we do play the lakers. I don’t see us getting swept with Bynum’s knee being shaky. We are going to NEED our boys to drive to the basket in the playoffs and stop settling for jumpshots since we don’t have the size of the Lakers.
For some reason, Phil doesn’t strike me as a coach that would rest his players for any reason.