Well, 24 hours can certainly make things more interesting, can't they? Two bonuses for us:
1) Of the five remaining games, Detroit was, as of a couple of days ago, the one we were most likely to win, so it wasn't a shocker, but we've now got that full game lead against Miami, with each team having four remaining. And Brooklyn's loss was the game that they were most likely to lose, so no shocker there, either. My feeling that we wouldn't make the playoffs would have been relatively unchanged, except...
2) If LeBron rests, as been hinted at, that obviously makes a huge difference for us. Hey, no reason not to rest him. For that matter, why send any of the top players to Boston for a Sunday game after which, you will have to turn around and fly them back home for a game the next night? Leave 'em home, I say.
3) Miami still has an easier schedule than we do. They're playing hurt, but I have to believe that they beat Orlando, Philly, and one of Chicago or Toronto. 2-2 over their next four games, however, would make me very, very happy.
4) The math is interesting for Indiana, but better for us than them, only because Boston > Indiana in a tie-breaker. Of course, head-to-head, Indy>Miami, Brookyn>Indy and Miami>Boston, Brooklyn. Alice, Bill, Charlie, David and Edgar were in a line...
5) We're now at 59%, per Hollinger, for the playoffs.
What are the chances that we can convince Cleveland to rest LeBron for the playoffs if we are the 7-seed?
Mike