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Houston Rockets Scenario Generator: Who Do You Want To See In The Playoffs?

By Yoni Pollak

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The Houston Rockets had a chance to secure a #2 seed had they defeated the San Antonio Spurs just once in their recent home-and-home series. However, they didn’t and now Houston can land in one of four different spots as we head to the playoffs.

Adam Wexler did an EXCELLENT job playing out ALL the different scenarios with all tiebreakers included. I’m not going to just copy and paste Wexler’s hard work here so you can click right here to view all the scenarios.

The schedule:
Today: Clippers at Suns (9:30)
Wednesday: Jazz at Rockets (7:00), Spurs at Pelicans (7:00), Pacers at Grizzlies (8:30)

Houston needs to win. Well, they don’t necessarily need to win because they have already clinched the playoffs, but they definitely need to win if they want to avoid the dreaded sixth seed. Any scenario where Houston loses and Memphis wins has the Rockets in the sixth seed, regardless of what happens with the Clippers or Spurs.

If the Rockets take care of business on Wednesday they’ll be no worse than a five seed. There’s also a chance the Rockets can be the two seed or the three seed with wins and help from other teams. The Pelicans still have a lot to play for (PLAYOFFS!) so they’ll be busting their tail on Wednesday night against the Spurs, as should the Pacers against the Grizzlies.

The scenarios will be split in half once the Clippers result comes in later tonight. There’s a pretty solid chance Houston avoids the Clippers, which is what all fans should be hoping for. Sure the Rockets have beaten the Clippers this year but the Rockets always have fits defending the Clippers, and the Rockets will be without Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas, both of whom hurt the Rockets with their ability to matchup against the Clippers.

We know what the Spurs can do to the Rockets and I’m sure no one wants to see them in the playoffs. Greg Popovich sends many different defenders and looks at James Harden and they do a good job of minimizing the rest of the Rockets’ contributions.

The three teams that I wouldn’t mind seeing are the Mavericks, Grizzlies, and Trail Blazers. Memphis has been reeling a bit as of late and Houston still has enough size to take on the Grizzlies frontcourt. A healthy Dwight Howard, along with Terrence Jones and Josh Smith should be able to combat the likes of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol and I believe the Rockets guards should be able to outplay the Grizzlies guards.

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The Mavericks play a similar style of basketball to that of the Rockets. Dirk Nowitzki is always tough to defend but the Rockets have done well against the Mavericks and are simply a better team.

A series against the Trail Blazers would be a chance for revenge for Houston. The Trail Blazers are a bit banged up with Wesley Matthews out for the year and his replacement, Arron Afflalo potentially out for the first few games of the playoffs. Nicolas Batum is getting an MRI on his ankle and the Blazers’ depth could be tested even more if he were to miss some games. LaMarcus Aldridge is also battling a foot injury but he’ll play once the playoffs start.

To me, the Rockets best case scenario would be finishing at #2, with the either the Spurs or Clippers in the #5 seed, thus making sure you avoid at least one of them (along with Golden State) until the Western Conference Finals.

So Houston, there’s still many possibilities out there. The Rockets can play one of five different teams at this point but we’ll know who the Rockets will play for sure once the clock strikes midnight on Wednesday night.

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