So Portland's got 3 games left vs Utah, Phx & Den. I believe everyone will want to beat them to put the Lakers up against the Clippers in round 1 (and increase the chance for PHX and Utah that they play the blazers round 1 over the lakers). Although if the Clippers lose one of the next two games (most likely vs Charlotte) the final game Denver vs Portland could be interesting.
The Hornets backed their way into the play-in last night with a Bulls loss. I don't think it matters who they play in the play-in, they just need to get as healthy as possible for that game. LaMelo's wrist is still clearly bothering him, I'd sit him against the Clippers. Devonte dropped 31 (19 in the 4th) in his first game back in weeks to keep it close against the Nuggets last night. Rest LaMelo, let Devonte get comfortable over the last 3 games, and hope to hell that Bridges and/or Hayward can get back in time for the play-in.
I had Gafford in fantasy the last few weeks. He'd put up lines like 12 and 10 in 14 minutes or 15 pts, 3 blks in 15 minutes (actual back to back games last week). The Yahoo write-up would say stuff like "Gafford played well in limited minutes. Scott Brooks said he'll play more next game." Then he'll play 15 minutes the next game and have a decent line like 6 and 4. Frustrating.
I was wondering why Ish was on the floor down 3. He's actually shooting .383 from deep this season. And he shot .367 from deep last year. First two seasons of his career above .350. Not many players his class are still in the league. Ish and Boban are the only undrafted players from the 2010 class still in the league. I think Whiteside is the only 2nd round. Others include AFA, Wall, Hayward, PG, Favors, Ed Davis, Patrick Patterson, Bradley, and Bledsoe.
There's a gigantic difference between being the 8 seed (you have 2 shots to win 1 game to get in) and being the 9 seed (need to win 2 in a row)
CHA also really would rather be the 8 seed matched up with the 7 seeded Celtics that have lost 7 games in a row vs the 10 seeded Wizards
All that said, I just bought my tickets for the potential play-in and first round games, 5 total potential games. Hopefully they'll get to host at least one of them.
I will give them some credit for not jacking up the ticket prices given the limited allowed attendance and increased demand. For the regular season shortened package, I was able to sell the few games I couldn't make to completely cover my costs inclusive of the games I did go to and make some money in addition (and in hindsight, the Lakers tickets alone would have covered the whole plan but I wanted to see that game). It takes away some of the annoyance of basically having an entire season plan worth of cash locked up unused with them for the past year and a half. These playoff tickets are pretty reasonable as well on a per game basis, though you've got to buy all of them and go with a refund or rollover for the games that don't happen.