Tag: Western Conference Playoffs

Jay Williams: Rockets should want to play Lakers over Clippers

The former NBA player makes his case for why the Lakers are a better second-round matchup for the Rockets, as compared to the Clippers.

The 2020 NBA playoffs at the league’s “bubble” complex near Orlando won’t have fans, so the usual perk of home-court advantage for higher seeds won’t be applicable to this year’s postseason.

But the final regular-season records, which will be set after eight “seeding” games in Florida, will still be quite meaningful. That’s because those records will set the brackets for the upcoming playoffs.

The Houston Rockets (40-24) are currently tied for the West’s No. 5 spot and can mathematically finish anywhere between No. 2 and No. 7 in the tightly packed standings. While their final placement will determine their first-round opponent, the bigger priority could be subsequent rounds.

Among expected contenders, one big consideration is which Los Angeles team that Houston prefers to have on its side of the West bracket and potentially face in the second round, should they advance.

On paper, the No. 1 Lakers (49-14) have been superior to the No. 2 Clippers (44-20) this season. But while the sample is small, it’s worth noting that the small-ball Rockets had more success against the former.

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On Feb. 6, the Rockets beat LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the Lakers by double digits at Staples Center in a game where Russell Westbrook scored 41 points. Then, about one month later on March 5, the Rockets were crushed by Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers in Houston.

The sample is limited. But based on what we know now, the Rockets had an easier time matching up with the larger Lakers and spacing the floor against their traditional big men. By contrast, the collective length and defensive versatility of the Clippers caused problems in March.

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In a Monday appearance on ESPN, former NBA player and current analyst Jay Williams seemed to agree with that assessment. He said:

If I’m Houston, I am trying to mirror and be in that bracket with the Lakers. I’m trying to be in that 4-5 range so I can be partnered with them, because I think that is the matchup they want to see in the Western Conference semifinals.

I don’t think they want to see the Clippers until the Finals because of their wings and the way they can match up. But a bigger Lakers team, where you can involve them in a ton of PnR (pick and roll), and James Harden and Russell Westbrook get hot? That could be the matchup that you’re looking for.

The Lakers will also be without veteran defensive ace Avery Bradley as an option to defend Harden and Westbrook. Bradley said last week that he is opting out of the NBA’s restart, citing family concerns.

The Rockets and Lakers, who have split their two meetings so far this season, will play once more in the regular season on August 6. That could give Houston one more chance to see how that matchup plays out before the playoffs, and whether the trends from the February game continue.

Beyond Xs and Os, there is another potential factor. The Lakers are expected to be heavy first-round favorites against whatever team emerges as the No. 8 seed, whereas the Clippers are currently slotted to have a real test versus superstar Luka Doncic and No. 7 Dallas. Perhaps the greater potential of an early upset is a variable worth considering.

With as closely bunched as the West standings are, Houston might not have the option to unilaterally “pick” its ideal bracket. But the possibility is worth monitoring as the regular season nears its conclusion.

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Highlighting the top 7 Warriors playoff performances from Game 1 of the opening round

Rick Barry, the Splash Brothers, Run TMC and Kevin Durant each contributed to memorable performances in playoff game one of the Western Conference first round.

The opening round of the playoffs marks a holiday weekend for hoops fans around the league. A mix of cinderella squads vying to play spoiler, while top-seeded teams attempt to make a run at the Finals usually makes for fireworks.

Saturday, April, 18 was the scheduled start date of the 2020 playoffs. However, with the season suspended with 17 games remaining due to the coronavirus pandemic, the start of the playoffs are on hold.

With no basketball on the slate, Warriors Wire looked back into some of the top moments from the first game of Golden State’s opening-rounds in playoff history.

Rick Barry, the Splash Brothers, Run TMC and Kevin Durant each contributed to memorable performances in game one of the Western Conference first round.

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Today in history: Rockets crush Jazz in Game 1 of 2019 playoffs

James Harden had a game-high 29 points and 10 assists as the Rockets opened the 2019 NBA playoffs with a 32-point home victory over Utah.

One year ago today, reigning league MVP James Harden tallied a game-high 29 points and 10 assists as the Houston Rockets opened the 2019 NBA playoffs with a 32-point home victory over the Utah Jazz.

The Rockets won the fourth quarter by a commanding 39-19 margin, leading to a 122-90 final in Game 1 of the first round (box score).

Eric Gordon scored 17 points on 50% shooting, and his defense helped limit Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell to a 7-of-18 night (38.9%) from the field. Meanwhile, big man Clint Capela added 16 points (61.5% FG) and 12 rebounds on the interior against All-Star center Rudy Gobert.

Here’s a look back at the Game 1 recap by Salman Ali, along with the highlights from Toyota Center.

The Rockets won the series in five games. Dating back to 2018, Houston has now defeated Utah by a 4-1 margin in back-to-back NBA playoffs.

In the 2019-20 season, the Jazz (41-23) are currently in the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, while the Rockets (40-24) are tied for the No. 5 spot. Should the 2019-20 campaign resume after its COVID-19 hiatus, a third consecutive meeting in the playoffs is very much a possibility.

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Tiebreaker update: Where Rockets stand vs. West playoff rivals

Here’s where the Rockets stand with potential tiebreakers against the five West teams they’re competing for playoff seeding with.

With Thursday’s game versus the Los Angeles Clippers now in the rear-view mirror, the Houston Rockets (39-22) have completed play against all but one of the five Western Conference teams that they’re competing with for seeding in the upcoming 2020 NBA playoffs.

Entering Saturday, the Rockets trailed the top-seeded Lakers in the loss column by nine games, and they were 10 games ahead of No. 8 Memphis for the final playoff spot. Thus, rising or falling to one of those spots is very unlikely, with only 21 games left in the 2019-20 regular season.

However, anywhere between No. 2 and No. 7 is quite reasonable. The current No. 2 is the Clippers, who the Rockets trail by three games in the loss column, while the No. 7 is Dallas — who they lead by three. With six teams in such tight proximity, ties after 82 games are quite possible.

Of the five teams they’re competing with, the Rockets have secured the two-team tiebreaker over Utah (22 losses) by winning the season series, while they would lose the tiebreaker to Oklahoma City (24 losses).

Houston (22 losses) split the season series with Denver (20 losses) and the Clippers (19 losses) at two games apiece, and they’re also tied with the Mavericks (25 losses) at one game each — though they still have two meetings left on March 23 and April 7, both in Dallas.

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The biggest key for the Rockets is holding off the Mavs, because what happens relative to Dallas also poses the potential to impact how any ties between Houston and the Clippers and/or Nuggets would be broken.

In two-team ties, the second tiebreaker after head-to-head results is whether a team won its division. In three-team ties, division status represents the first tiebreaker. The Clippers almost certainly won’t win the Pacific, since they trail the Lakers by six games in the loss column.

Thus, if Houston holds off Dallas in the Southwest, they would almost assuredly earn the tiebreaker against the Clippers.

The Nuggets do currently lead the Northwest, but only by two games over the Jazz. Should Utah manage to catch Denver, Houston would also win any tie against the Nuggets for the same reason.

The Rockets winning the Southwest is vital, because if they don’t, they are poorly positioned for tiebreakers. Should Houston not win its division, the next tiebreaker is conference record, and the Rockets have more losses against the West than any of the other five teams.

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Houston also has two additional in-division losses than the Mavericks. So if the Mavs and Rockets were to end up tied for the Southwest, they’re not in a good spot for that tiebreaker unless they win both games at Dallas to secure the season series at three games to one.

But if the Rockets pull off that feat, it’s hard to imagine how they could possibly be tied with Dallas at the end of the season, since they already have a three-game lead on the Mavs in the loss column.

Realistically, should the Rockets and Mavs end up tied, it would almost certainly mean that Dallas won at least one of those head-to-head meetings. If that’s the case, Dallas would likely win any tiebreaker.

In short, the biggest priority for the Rockets (39-22) is maintaining their current advantage and holding off the Mavericks (38-25) to win the Southwest Division championship.

If they do that, not only will they be guaranteed to be ahead of the Mavs in 2020 NBA playoffs seeding, but they would also be in strong position to hold tiebreakers over the Clippers and potentially the Nuggets, as well.

One small silver lining is that if the Rockets are caught by the Mavericks, it would seem unlikely that they’d be in a position to tie the Nuggets and Clippers, anyway, since they already trail them by two and three games. In that doomsday scenario, tiebreakers could be inconsequential.

The bottom line: If Houston takes care of its own business, they’re well positioned for most tiebreakers, since the only team they’d definitely lose one against (Oklahoma City) is two games back in the loss column. It’s up to James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and the rest of the Rockets to take advantage of that opportunity as the regular season draws to a close.