Okay, since we really only have a thread for each game, I decided we make one for the playoff push and the push for the #2 seed.
Here are the standings as of right now.
1 Detroit 49 27 2 Chicago 46 32 3 Toronto 44 33 4 Miami 42 35 5 Cleveland 46 32 6 Washington 39 37 7 New Jersey 36 40 8 Orlando 35 41
Even if we end up at the #5 seed we will likely have home court unless we completely tank these last four games..
Okay so here it goes...
Here is what is going to happen. Or rather.. what we all WANT to happen
The Cavs are going to win out. They have an easy schedule ahead and will start to fire on all cylinders these last 4 games. That puts us at 50-32, the same record as last year.
Chicago will lose at least one more game. It will be a road game, I'm sure of that.
So, the Bulls finish 49-33.
Miami is going to finish in the 4th seed, I don't see them leapfrogging the Raptors right now. Miami Finishes at 46-36, while Toronto closes out with a 47-35 record.
The bottom tier teams will remain as they are right now. This puts Washington in at the 6 seed, New Jersey in the #7 seed and Orlando as the #8.
So, at the end of the season, the standings WILL look like this (I hope )
Detroit # 1 Cleveland # 2 Toronto # 3 Miami # 4 Chicago # 5 Washington # 6 New Jersey # 7 Orlando #8
First Round
Detroit takes Orlando in 4 games.
Cleveland beats NJ in 5. (losing the second game of the series)
Chicago UPSETS Miami, winning in 6 games.
Toronto handles Washington in 6 games (No Gilbert for the Wiz)
Second Round
Detroit over Chicago in 6.
Cleveland over Toronto in 6 games (After losing the first game at home, the Cavs rebound to win 3 straight and take down the Raptors in Toronto) Sorry PA.
Eastern Conference Finals
Cavs and Pistons part duex. This series doesn't make it seven games this year as the Cavs get a very important rebound, and LeBron ice's the game with two free throws (again...I hope...)
The NBA finals
Seems like I'm predicting a lot of 6 game series' come playoff time, and this series is no different. The Cavs lose to the Mavs in 6. Dirk and Co. are just too much for the Cavs to handle.
maybe it's just me, but I want the cavs to get the 5th seed so they could knock the heat out and shut up charles barkley in the process.every year barkley bashes the cavs on tnt, and it's getting tiresome. I know the cavs aren't perfect, but we play in the east and anything is possible. Just like last year when we took the pistons to a game 7. personally I can't stand the style we play, but it's successful in the playoffs when the game shrinks to a half court game.
I tolf my co-worker in November it would be the cavs-vs suns in the finals, and I'm sticking to that.
I guess Im just nervous but with the Cavs having lsot 7 of their last 12, I really don't see them getting the 2 seed any longer. It really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth much like two seasons ago when they missed the playoffs on the last day of the season. That being said here are the cavs/bulls remaining games
the thing I like for the cavs is that they play three of those games after the Bulls, meaning Lebron will know exactly what he needs to do, in order to keep the cavs in the running for the 2 seed, and/or clinch it.
When it gets cold and snows and the wind blows, you gotta be able to run the ball. - TR
ohio st lost 2 national championships in 3 months. I'm not getting my hopes up for the cavs, browns or indians. It's going to be a bad year for ohio sports teams.
Quote: ohio st lost 2 national championships in 3 months. I'm not getting my hopes up for the cavs, browns or indians. It's going to be a bad year for ohio sports teams.
what else is new?
why not get your hopes up, what's the point of watching then?
i get my hopes up for the browns every year, and i love it, if i didn't, the browns would be really boring to watch...
Quote: ohio st lost 2 national championships in 3 months. I'm not getting my hopes up for the cavs, browns or indians. It's going to be a bad year for ohio sports teams.
I look at it like this... OSU was in two national championship games... the Cavs are going to make the playoffs... Indians have a chance to have a great year and the Browns could get a GREAT player at #3.... it's a GREAT year for Ohio Sports Teams...
We are not playing well as a team at all. Last year we were playing better team basketball. The way we are playing, we will be lucky to win one game against the Heat. If we play the Raptors, I think it will go to seven games and we should win it.
Quote: We are not playing well as a team at all. Last year we were playing better team basketball. The way we are playing, we will be lucky to win one game against the Heat. If we play the Raptors, I think it will go to seven games and we should win it.
we'll beat miami in the playoffs...
wade or not, we're the better team, i don't know why everyone is so high on them, they had one decent spurt, but they've been playing as lackluster as we have, .500 in their last 10...
not to mention, that when the playoffs come, it becomes more of a halfcourt game, and i don't think shaq can do it himself, the cavs will be hungrier, and they'll be the better team, they'll win, i'm just worried because it will still be a tough series, and after that series, they're likely to play detroit, which is still assuming the cavs finish at 5...
the bulls have not won in new jersey in many, many years, and their final game is in new jersey, ours is at home against the bucks (michael redd is done for the year by the way) that could be the key game...
let's see if chicago gets into a funk though, they're a jump shooting team, and jump shooting teams tend to get into 4 or 5 game funks where they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn...
and i love that the media and espn have written off the cavs, whenever they mention playoff contenders in the east, they purposely leave out the cavaliers, just today they were talking about detroit, chicago, and miami being the only contenders...
you have to love it though, because once the playoffs start, and these possessions become critical, the cavs will be ready...
Quote: you heard it here first, the cavaliers win a playoff series against miami in 6 games...
even IF you're right, it will take every effort the Cavs have in them, and for their trouble, they'd win the right to play the Pistons in round 2...we've lost to them there before, and we probably will again, especially after being worn down by the Heat in round 1...
face it, the 2 team will have a very nice shot at playing in the championhsip series...the 5 will be lucky to go home after a long roud2 series...so let's root for the Bobcats tonight!...
Taking the mighty Pistons to 7 games after a long series like that last year isn't bad at all. It's not like we got swept by them. We had them shaking in their boots and rightfully so.
Hopefully the Nets can pull it out against Chicago in the bulls last game the other 2 look like cake walks. the bobcats aren't good and the wizards and bad without Gilbert.
yes, but they're probably a bit better than last year, and i'm not sure i can say that about this Cavs team...some days they look infinitely better, some days not so much...
and instead of a 1-man show for a 1st series, we'd have Shaq, Wade, et al to face this year...
Quote: Hopefully the Nets can pull it out against Chicago in the bulls last game the other 2 look like cake walks. the bobcats aren't good and the wizards and bad without Gilbert.
NJ still hasn't clinched....I would love for them to be in a must win situation come that last game.
Also, as long as we win, Chicago can't rest anyone. They play before us every game from here on out.......if they win out, we can give all the starters a night of extra rest in the last game of the regular season (as we have clinched HC against Miami), if they lose....we have a chance at the #2 seed. Both Scenarios are good.
which means, they can easily lose games because perimeter oriented teams can go ice cold
the cavs may have a pitiful offense, but they get production from their frontcourt, which is where it's going to come from in the playoffs... they're better built...
the bobcats are in chicago tonight, but gerald wallace is iffy... with him in the lineup, the bobcats (who have won 10 out of the last 16, including sweeping a home and home with the mighty mighty miami heat) have a legitimate chance at knocking off chicago, if not, the bobcats don't last past halftime...
i think the best scenario that we can hope for is that the cavs win out, and new jersey, who hasn't mathematically clinched yet, needs that last game to get in... that way they fight chicago because they have no tomorrow...
again, miami won't be that huge of an obstacle... for one, we get them at home, which means we get games 1 and 7 at home, the 2 most important games...
they'll have dwyane wade back, but he won't be the wade of last year... he won't be able to attack the basket like they did... like i said again, cavs in 6...
while i would like that #2 seed, our good friend charles barkley said it best when he said playoff seeding isn't THAT important, because if you want to win a championship, you're going to have to beat good teams, and you're going to have to beat them on the road, there is no way around it...
Quote: Wash is going to be a cakewalk in the playoffs for whoever plays them... looks like we're looking at the 5th seed... which blows...
yeah looks like the cavs will play miami in round one.if they went by the best records the cavs would have the 3rd seed and would play washington or new jersey.lets hope that the cavs take care of business and new jersey has a chance to grab the 6th seed when the play the bulls.if they have nothing to play for they will rest their starters and the bulls will have another cake game
Well, NJ still has a shot at the 6th seed. The Wiz are only a half game ahead of the Nets. The Wiz play the Magic tonight (we're going to have to be rooting for Orlando). I don't know the tiebreakers between Wash and NJ but having Wash and NJ tied on the last day can get the Nets up to play the Bulls.
The Cavs still have a shot at this but it's a long shot.
Of course the Cavs have to win out regardless. At Philly tonight (trap game) and host Milwaukee tomorrow. Of course we have a back-2-back to end the season.
And if the Cavs fail to get the #2 seed....they deserve it for losing to the Celtics and Knicks in the past three weeks. Those are the two losses this team has to carry into the offseason if we catch a hot Heat team in the first round. The Celts and Knicks........ugh!
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
i'm actually looking forward to a miami/cleveland series, maybe tim legler will finally recognize the cavs as a legitimate team when lebron and co. take down the heat in 6 games...
i do believe new jersey will play this game hard tomorrow night, outside of having that shot at moving up in the standings, they'll likely be matching up with chicago if they don't win, so it's a good barometer...
the cavs can't worry about it though, just finish off philly tonight... tomorrow the team can rest guys and still blow out milwaukee by 25...
Orlando and Wash are tied......and the more I think of it, it doesn't really matter who wins the game. Wash and NJ would be tied if Wash lost tonight with NJ holding the tiebreaker (NJ would still need to win tomorrow to guarantee the spot). Wash would be up 1 game on NJ is Wash wins, which would still make NJ want to win tomorrow. Either way, NJ has something to play for.
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
they're finally playing the way they should have all year... when you match up against weaker opponents, you don't wait around and try and defend them, you have to get out and run on them, and once you get a comfortable lead, then you start pressing defensively... they approached a lot of these teams like they do with the detroits and chicagos, it's different when you're playing crappy teams...
can someone explain to me how if the raptors had equalled our record, which would have created a 3 way tie with chicago, that we would get the 2 seed? i was kinda busy during the beginning of the broadcast, and the crew had mentioned something like that... i don't understand how we can jump the bulls if the raptors somehow got in the mix...
i talked to a buddy of mine who is a pretty die hard nets fan, and he says the nets will bring everything they have tomorrow night...
i'm guaranteeing victory over the bucks, only because they're one of the worst teams in the league, so everything sits on this new jersey game, i will be tuning in for sure, tomorrow night, the nets are my favorite team in the league...
No we aren't. The Heat are the defending champions and have had our number the last several years.
other than this season, the cavs have split the season series with miami basically every year since lebron and wade were drafted...
and this year, we're clearly a better team, better road record, our record against .500 or better teams tops theirs...
defending champions has nothing to do with this year
i just don't see why they get all the love they do when they've been scuffling all year
you heard it here first, the cavaliers win a playoff series against miami in 6 games...
oh yes, we're also better defensively...
Put down the blunt man, I realize the homerism involved, I don't fault you for wanting your team to win, but name one player besides Lebron that matches up with any player on Miami.
Better defense is laughable.
You will get your shot so I guess we will find out.
Your points are meaningless in the playoffs, Shaq was missing half the season, Wades been out many games and the Heat are still there to defend their crown, might be why nobody is counting them out.
The reason the Cavs might not be getting taken seriously in the playoffs is they are a ONE MAN team.
Jordan couldn't do it by himself and neither can Lebron.
No we aren't. The Heat are the defending champions and have had our number the last several years.
other than this season, the cavs have split the season series with miami basically every year since lebron and wade were drafted...
and this year, we're clearly a better team, better road record, our record against .500 or better teams tops theirs...
defending champions has nothing to do with this year
i just don't see why they get all the love they do when they've been scuffling all year
you heard it here first, the cavaliers win a playoff series against miami in 6 games...
oh yes, we're also better defensively...
Put down the blunt man, I realize the homerism involved, I don't fault you for wanting your team to win, but name one player besides Lebron that matches up with any player on Miami.
Better defense is laughable.
You will get your shot so I guess we will find out.
Your points are meaningless in the playoffs, Shaq was missing half the season, Wades been out many games and the Heat are still there to defend their crown, might be why nobody is counting them out.
The reason the Cavs might not be getting taken seriously in the playoffs is they are a ONE MAN team.
Jordan couldn't do it by himself and neither can Lebron.
so wait, i'm automatically a homer because i said the cavs are better?
defensively, yes the cavs are better, you can look at statistics too... we're better in every category, opp. field goal %, total points allowed, we're better on the glass...
i love the whole "wElL LoLZ yEr A hOmEr!!#$@#@"
please.
was i being a homer when i was the only person on this board last year who said the cavs were going to take the pistons to the full 7 games?
i know my basketball, i know the cavs, and i know the heat, and the heat have been mediocre at best this year, yes, shaq has missed time, and wade won't be what he was last year, i understand this, but this team has underachieved all year, guys like gary payton and antoine walker don't have the hunger they had last year when they didn't have a ring on their finger, this team will struggle against a cavalier team that plays TEAM basketball, we may not have a bona fide #2 scorer, but guys can score on this team...
so please, come up with a better one than the whole "homerism" thing
and no, i won't put the blunt down.
my rankings for the east haven't changed since february...