The Race for Homecourt Thread

[fairweatherfan]

Yesterday's results: Fun game last night, as yet another home court competitor blows yet another huge lead.  This time, the Heat surrendered a 24 point lead at home to Orlando. 

Celtics are now up 3 in the loss column over both Eastern foes; combined with the tiebreak, we now would have to lose at least 4 games more than Miami for them to pass us.

Friday, March 4th

Team                 W - L   GB (Losses Back)
Boston Celtics  44-15     --
Miami Heat        43-18    2 (3)
Chicago Bulls    41-18    3 (3)

Tiebreakers:  Boston clinched over Miami, Boston leads 2-1 over Chicago, Chicago clinched over Miami.


Team                 W - L   GB (Losses Back)
Boston Celtics  44-15    --
Dallas Mavs      44-16   .5 (1)
LA Lakers         43-19   2.5 (4)

Tiebreakers: Dallas clinched over Boston.  Boston split head-to-head with LA , but leads in second tiebreaker, conference record - 29-7 vs 25-11.


Today's games: A big night for the teams in the Homecourt thread as all 5 are playing tonight;  first, our own Celtics play the Warriors at home.  Every win is a big win from here on out, and hopefully the guys come through and give us some extra separation.

It's time to root for the Magic again (ugh) as they take on the Bulls in Orlando.

The Mavericks will be at home against the Pacers, who are playing to hang on to the 8 seed in the East.

The Lakers play at home against the Bobcats, who have absolutely owned them (and nobody else) over the last few years.

And finally, the Heat are again in action against...I'm not familiar with this team; it looks like some kind of translation error on the schedule.  Ok, after a quick run to Babelfish, Miami is playing someone called the St. Anthony Stirrups.  Must be a high school team or something.  Oh well, good luck kids!

[fairweatherfan]

Yesterday's results: Celtics win again over a below-average opponent, taking down the Warriors.

The Heat got crushed by the Spurs and have now lost 4 of 5.  Even worse, they've plummeted to 3rd in the Hollinger rankings.

The Bulls took out Orlando on the road, and the Lakers and Mavs beat lottery teams at home.  Ho hum.

The big standing news is that the Bulls are now ahead of Miami, both in percentage points and in their chance to catch up.  Hopefully we'll get to see that Heat-Knicks 1st round matchup that both the league and I are drooling for.


Saturday, March 5th

Team                 W - L   GB (Losses Back)
Boston Celtics  45-15     --
Chicago Bulls    42-18    3 (3)
Miami Heat        43-19    3 (4)

Tiebreakers:  Boston clinched over Miami, Boston leads 2-1 over Chicago, Chicago clinched over Miami.


Team                 W - L   GB (Losses Back)
Boston Celtics  45-15    --
Dallas Mavs      45-16   .5 (1)
LA Lakers         44-19   2.5 (4)

Tiebreakers: Dallas clinched over Boston.  Boston split head-to-head with LA , but leads in second tiebreaker, conference record - 29-7 vs 25-11.


Today's games: No games among the 5 teams listed here.  So I won't be updating again til Monday.   However, on

Sunday
Sunday
Sunday

A huge set of games.  Bulls and Heat play again, this time in Miami.  Lakers meet the Spurs in San Antonio.  The Mavericks face a hot Memphis team, and the Celtics go on the road to face Milwaukee.  Ticket price pays for full seat, but all you'll need is the edge!

Have a good weekend, and go Cs!

[heitingas]

i'm with the heat against the bulls.

[farringa]

TP FWF, great work.  Keep it up.

[KobeShesNotConsenting!]

Mavs already beat us twice. Include them.

Spurs might fall back to the pack with Parker out 2-4 weeks. Include them too.

Then I would consider giving a TP.

Well, I'm just glad you took the time to lay out the conditions under which you'd think about making a token gesture.  It's very important to me that I know where I stand on these things.

Anyway, I won't be adding the Spurs unless we get significantly closer; we're still four games back in the loss column and five back overall, but we'll see how things go.  

The Mavs I didn't include because I don't really care about the Mavs; I don't think there's any real chance they get past both the Lakers and the Spurs as they'll likely have to do.  But I guess I can throw them in as the token bannerless franchise.

How can the Mavs be overlooked this easily? I just don't get it.

I competely get it. They're constant playoff dissapointments, like choking in the finals or losing to golden state in the first round. Maybe Chandler can change that trend but until things change in the post-season they'll continually get disrespected.

[greenpride32]

Mavs already beat us twice. Include them.

Spurs might fall back to the pack with Parker out 2-4 weeks. Include them too.

Then I would consider giving a TP.

Well, I'm just glad you took the time to lay out the conditions under which you'd think about making a token gesture.  It's very important to me that I know where I stand on these things.

Anyway, I won't be adding the Spurs unless we get significantly closer; we're still four games back in the loss column and five back overall, but we'll see how things go.  

The Mavs I didn't include because I don't really care about the Mavs; I don't think there's any real chance they get past both the Lakers and the Spurs as they'll likely have to do.  But I guess I can throw them in as the token bannerless franchise.

How can the Mavs be overlooked this easily? I just don't get it.

I competely get it. They're constant playoff dissapointments, like choking in the finals or losing to golden state in the first round. Maybe Chandler can change that trend but until things change in the post-season they'll continually get disrespected.

If this thread is going to be called "race for HCA" it should include all teams in the race (like maybe the Spurs?).  If you're going to only list certain teams based on your opinion of how the standings will play out, then this thread should  be titled "who do you think will win HCA".

[ACF]

Jeez, people are awfully critical of somebody else's hard work.  If folks want to supplement FWF's chart with the rankings of other contenders, nothing is stopping them from doing so.

Nice work, FWF, and nicer work still if you keep this up through the regular season.

[greenpride32]

Jeez, people are awfully critical of somebody else's hard work.  If folks want to supplement FWF's chart with the rankings of other contenders, nothing is stopping them from doing so.

Nice work, FWF, and nicer work still if you keep this up through the regular season.

It's called constructive criticsism.  And it's really not hard work; all I need to do is go to a site wth NBA Standings and sort by "league".  And then I can see the ACTUAL race for HCA.

[fairweatherfan]

Hey thanks for making this a sticky, mods!  Awesome!

Yesterday's results: Another day, another close W against a shoddy opponent for the Celtics - this time Milwaukee was the victim.  If we could just trade Rondo for Brandon Jennings we might be undefeated...if Milwaukee was stupid enough to make such a lopsided deal 

The Heat ...well, the Heat, they lost another close one to the Bulls, despite playing really, r-really hard.  I know they get a real tough time around here, but it's just, the guys care so much, they try so hard and they were SO close this time...a-and everybody just keeps making fun of them, and th-they...they're just people, they want to win so bad, b-b-but...







<sniff> glad to get that out of my system.  Miami sucks.

In other news, it looks like the Lakers are good again, as they crushed the Spurs in San Antonio, and are undefeated since the All-Star Break.  Suppose we all knew their slump was too good to be true.

And last but not least, the Mavs were beaten by Memphis on a virtual buzzer-beater by Zach Randolph.  Nice work Z-Bo. 


Monday, March 7th

Team                 W - L   GB (Losses Back)
Boston Celtics  46-15     --
Chicago Bulls    43-18    3 (3)
Miami Heat        43-20    4 (5)

Tiebreakers:  Boston clinched over Miami, Boston leads 2-1 over Chicago in first tiebreak, and 30-7 to 26-11 in second tiebreak, Chicago clinched over Miami.


Team                 W - L   GB (Losses Back)
Boston Celtics  46-15    --
Dallas Mavs      45-17   1.5 (2)
LA Lakers         45-19   2.5 (4)

Tiebreakers: Dallas clinched over Boston.  Boston split head-to-head with LA , but lead in second tiebreaker, conference record - 30-7 vs 26-11.


Today's games: Only a couple of minor games today: first the Bulls play the Hornets in Chicago.  No Chris Paul probably = not much competition, but fingers crossed anyway.

The Mavericks are also in action at Minnesota; again, hope for an upset but it's not too likely.

And finally, just for fun, the Celtics' magic number for clinching a playoff spot is just 1, which means if the Bobcats lose to the Clippers tonight, we'll be the first team to officially qualify for the postseason.  To compare, the Spurs' magic number is still 3.  Thanks, crappy Eastern conference basement!

[fairweatherfan]

Jeez, people are awfully critical of somebody else's hard work.  If folks want to supplement FWF's chart with the rankings of other contenders, nothing is stopping them from doing so.

Nice work, FWF, and nicer work still if you keep this up through the regular season.

It's called constructive criticsism.  And it's really not hard work; all I need to do is go to a site wth NBA Standings and sort by "league".  And then I can see the ACTUAL race for HCA.

I'd recommend doing just that; why waste your valuable time complaining about something that clearly doesn't live up to your exacting standards?  Fly free of this shoddy excuse for a casual, just-for-fun thread and find a site that caters to the truly hardcore.

Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of homecourt information...

[GreenFaith1819]

Thanks, FairweatherFan!

[Fafnir]

On another note, the Heat would have to win out their remaining games if the C's continue to win at around a .700 pace to pass the C's

15-6 for the C's
19-0 for the Heat

if the C's just play .500 ball, they still need to go on a tear to catch us

11-10
15-4

The Bulls are now the primary threat, they still have the potential to grab the tie-breaker if they beat us. So a few more C's wins and Bulls loses could make this a laugher.

The Clippers, Philly (who have been hotter than the C's lately), Bucks, Nets, Pacers, and Houston are our next 6 games.

The Bulls schedule isn't very different: New Orleans (sans CP3), Charlotte, Atlanta, Utah, Wizards, Nets

[Roy H.]

Jeez, people are awfully critical of somebody else's hard work.  If folks want to supplement FWF's chart with the rankings of other contenders, nothing is stopping them from doing so.

Nice work, FWF, and nicer work still if you keep this up through the regular season.

It's called constructive criticsism.  And it's really not hard work; all I need to do is go to a site wth NBA Standings and sort by "league".  And then I can see the ACTUAL race for HCA.

My advice:  if you don't like the thread, don't click on it in the future. 

[fairweatherfan]

On another note, the Heat would have to win out their remaining games if the C's continue to win at around a .700 pace to pass the C's

15-6 for the C's
19-0 for the Heat

if the C's just play .500 ball, they still need to go on a tear to catch us

11-10
15-4

The Bulls are now the primary threat, they still have the potential to grab the tie-breaker if they beat us. So a few more C's wins and Bulls loses could make this a laugher.

Nice points - but we have a good chance at the Bulls tiebreaker even if we lose the next one to them.  We're up 4 games in intraconference record with 15 to go.  

But Miami is really falling off the table w/regards to homecourt.  Honestly if they'd started off this far back I probably wouldn't have included them in the first place.  But they're here til they're mathematically eliminated now. 

[Fafnir]

On another note, the Heat would have to win out their remaining games if the C's continue to win at around a .700 pace to pass the C's

15-6 for the C's
19-0 for the Heat

if the C's just play .500 ball, they still need to go on a tear to catch us

11-10
15-4

The Bulls are now the primary threat, they still have the potential to grab the tie-breaker if they beat us. So a few more C's wins and Bulls loses could make this a laugher.

Nice points - but we have a good chance at the Bulls tiebreaker even if we lose the next one to them.  We're up 4 games in intraconference record with 15 to go.  

But Miami is really falling off the table w/regards to homecourt.  Honestly if they'd started off this far back I probably wouldn't have included them in the first place.  But they're here til they're mathematically eliminated now.  

With 15 games to go, if they beat the Celtics they'd only be 3 back. Given that they're also going to need to make up games on the C's to catch them beyond that its likely those extra wins and loses will be to eastern teams.

That means if the Bulls are somewhat likely to win the tiebreaker if it is going to come into play.