Will Phoenix Match GS Efforts Tommorrow?

[Mainstreet]

As I looked at the Western Conference standings, Golden State is tied with Denver in the win/loss column but still leaves them in the 9th spot. I'm just wondering if Phoenix can or will match the intensity of GS in their upcoming game, as Phoenix is pretty much already locked into the 6th spot. Any thoughts?

 

[Hat]

I doubt the Suns will play GS as hard as they will. There's no real need.

They should take the opportunity to draw up new plays and lets the scrubs play more. It's time to rest the vets (Shaq, Hill, and Nash) and prepare for the playoffs

 

[TheHopToad]

I would actually rather rest some folks in this game and let Golden State have the game. With the Lakers claiming the #1 seed, I'd rather have them face the Warriors than the Nuggets.

 

[Cheesewater]

But you can't just mail it in because George Karl will lodge a protest with the league.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

I hope they do... though I think teams have learned from Dallas's mistake last year. If you have a chance to eliminate a potential playoff opponent, you do it.

GSW has played well vs. Phoenix this season.

 

[Bayless2Budinger]

I really dont understand why people are saying we are locked into the number 6 spot.

The Spurs could easily lose against the Lakers and Jazz.

Although I would probably rather have the 6 spot than have the 5 spot and face the Jazz with no hca.

 

[Kody Rumin]

I think Phoenix is better off if they lose tomorrow's game. First of all, I like the sixth seed better than fifth. Utah looks tougher in the first round than San Antonio or Houston (I'm hoping they get the third seed).

Second, Golden State being in the playoffs benefits Phoenix more than Denver being there does. Denver hasn't played well in the postseason for the past three years, and I don't see that changing if they get matched up against New Orleans, L.A., or San Antonio. So those tough teams will likely advance if they face Denver. Golden State is a tougher playoff matchup though. They might lose in the first round, but I would bet good money that the Warriors would put up more of a fight.

 

[TheHopToad]

I think Phoenix is better off if they lose tomorrow's game. First of all, I like the sixth seed better than fifth. Utah looks tougher in the first round than San Antonio or Houston (I'm hoping they get the third seed).

Second, Golden State being in the playoffs benefits Phoenix more than Denver being there does. Denver hasn't played well in the postseason for the past three years, and I don't see that changing if they get matched up against New Orleans, L.A., or San Antonio. So those tough teams will likely advance if they face Denver. Golden State is a tougher playoff matchup though. They might lose in the first round, but I would bet good money that the Warriors would put up more of a fight.

The Warriors would definitely put up more of a challenge to the Lakers than Denver would.

The Suns do need to drop the game in order to secure #6. If Phoenix wins out and San Antonio drops two of their three remaining games (Lakers, Kings, Jazz), which is entirely possible, then the Suns would be the #5 because of owning the tiebreaker against the Spurs.

 

[Griffin]

If the game was meaningless to us then I would say GS would have an easy win, but it is not meaningless. We can still move ahead of SA and we can still secure a better record than Utah. That could be key should we meet either of those teams in the playoffs. While I don't like the idea of playing Utah on the road in the first round, no match-up is certain yet. We could move up to 5th and play someone other than Utah, we could have home court advantage vs. Utah, or we could stay 6th and end up with New Orleans.

 

[Darth Llama]

I hope they do... though I think teams have learned from Dallas's mistake last year. If you have a chance to eliminate a potential playoff opponent, you do it.

GSW has played well vs. Phoenix this season.

Absolutely. Always go for the throat no matter who it is. Phoenix should go for the kill against GS. Play the Starters, but try and get up big and sit them in the 3rd quarter. Get some valuable experience for your bench, and get GS out of the picture. That would be a great situation for the Suns.

 

[CaptainInsano]

Absolutely. Always go for the throat no matter who it is. Phoenix should go for the kill against GS. Play the Starters, but try and get up big and sit them in the 3rd quarter. Get some valuable experience for your bench, and get GS out of the picture. That would be a great situation for the Suns.

So I take it you want to face denver a lot more then GS.

*edit: We definately need to lose the GSW game, I don't want to risk having to face the jazz. I'll take my chances on houston.

 

[Cheesewater]

So I take it you want to face denver a lot more then GS.

He he. That's how I read it, too.

 

[Ninjafish]

If we're smart, we'll throw these last two games, so we can't move up to #5 and face Utah.

That is, unless Houston loses tonight. Then that would open up the possibility that the Jazz could move to #3.

Then I'm not sure what we should do.

 

[Darth Llama]

I'm honestly not sure who I would rather face between Denver and Golden State. They're both dangerous teams despite their seeding in the wild western conference. I really have no preference between the two, neither one will be easy. There will be no easy rounds for anyone this year.

 

[Proteus]

My guess is that D'Antoni will play the guys about their regular amount of minutes. If I remember correctly, that's what he did last year after we clinched the #2 seed.

Of course, that doesn't mean the players will give it their all though...

 

[hsandhu]

Golden State is essentially eliminated with denver's win tonight. Denver has one more game, at home on wed against memphis, win and they're in.

On the other hand suns can still move up despite what coro wrote. Utah and suns have 27 losses, now s.a. and houston have 26. Houston plays at utah, s.a. at sac and home against utah.

I'm trying to figure it out, anyway else can as well, but I know there is a scenario where we can rise, but how far. Because the three team tie breaker is record against other teams tied. If it is three team tie w/s.a./hou/pho we have best record, hou second, s.a. third.

The question I have what if a 4 way tie, how does it work especially since utah is guaranteed a top 4 seed.

Bottom line, suns seeding can still change a lot. If I'm wrong correct me, but I think coro made a huge mistake saying suns locked to 6.

 

[TheHopToad]

I'm pretty sure we can move up higher than #6, but trying to figure it out gives me a headache. Here is what I have so far with current records and games remaining:

Phoenix (53-27): vs Warriors, vs Portland
Houston (54-26): at Utah, vs Clippers
San Antonio (54-26): at Sacramento, vs Utah
Utah (53-27): vs Houston, at San Antonio
New Orleans (55-25): vs Clippers, at Dallas

If each team wins only the bolded games above then we'll have a five way tie for #2, with all teams finishing at 55-27. It's not realistic to think that the Hornets are going to lose to both the Clippers and Dallas, so let's forget about them and concede New Orleans the #2. Then you would have four teams tied for the #3.

I gotta sort through the tiebreakers and see who comes out where. Suffice to say, it's pretty much still a crapshoot....

 

[dodie53]

..i hope so..

 

[hsandhu]

I'm pretty sure we can move up higher than #6, but trying to figure it out gives me a headache. Here is what I have so far with current records and games remaining:

Phoenix (53-27): vs Warriors, vs Portland
Houston (54-26): at Utah, vs Clippers
San Antonio (54-26): at Sacramento, vs Utah
Utah (53-27): vs Houston, at San Antonio
New Orleans (55-25): vs Clippers, at Dallas

If each team wins only the bolded games above then we'll have a five way tie for #2, with all teams finishing at 55-27. It's not realistic to think that the Hornets are going to lose to both the Clippers and Dallas, so let's forget about them and concede New Orleans the #2. Then you would have four teams tied for the #3.

I gotta sort through the tiebreakers and see who comes out where. Suffice to say, it's pretty much still a crapshoot....

Do you know what the 4-way tiebreaker is? once we get that we can figure it out.

 

[Bufalay]

Do you know what the 4-way tiebreaker is? once we get that we can figure it out.

I'm guessing that the Suns lose any tie breaker other than a 2-way with the Spurs and I guess the Nuggets.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Yeah we are at the shallow end of the tiebreaker pool

 

[TheHopToad]

Do you know what the 4-way tiebreaker is? once we get that we can figure it out.

If the above plays out as stated, then here is how the four tied teams fared collectively against each other (head to head advantage in bold):

Suns Rockets Spurs Jazz Total
Suns -- 2-2 3-1 1-2 6-5
Rockets 2-2 -- 2-2 1-2 5-6
Spurs 1-3 2-2 -- 1-3 4-8
Jazz 2-1 2-1 3-1 -- 7-3



So then according to the multiple team tiebreaker process, the Jazz have the highest winning percentage against all tied teams and would be the #3 seed. Then the Suns are next and would be #4. Then The Rockets at #5, and San Antonio at #6.

Crazy!

 

[hsandhu]

I'm guessing that the Suns lose any tie breaker other than a 2-way with the Spurs and I guess the Nuggets.

Nope, we win 3 way with hous/s.a., because it is head to head vs. tied teams. Since we are 3-1 w/ s.a., 2-2 w/ hou, 2-2 between hou and s.a..

 

[Griffin]

So then according to the multiple team tiebreaker process, the Jazz have the highest winning percentage against all tied teams and would be the #3 seed. Then the Suns are next and would be #4. Then The Rockets at #5, and San Antonio at #6.

So who would have home court advantage then, Phoenix or Houston? Does it default back to the two-team tiebreaker (which Houston has) to determine that?

 

[TheHopToad]

Given that we fare well in the multiple team tiebreaker scenarios, I'm going to change my mind and say that the Suns should go full steam ahead and win both of the remaining games. If we're lucky, we may still move up, and besides there's no guarantee we won't play Utah or New Orleans if we stay at #6, depending on how those teams do in their last two games.