S82 Town Hall 11

[Mike Lowry]

Will the Knicks (hold-off is more appropriate than catch) the Pacers?
Will the Sonics catch the Jazz?
Why and How?

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful answers, which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.

Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5, 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.

Due: Due by the deadline for sim 11

[greepleairport]

Will the Knicks catch the Pacers?
Will the Sonics catch the Jazz?

Well, the Knicks seem to have caught the Pacers, at least for now, by 1.5 games. Led by Darrell Griffith and Alex English, this team has stayed competitive after selling Buck. The Knicks do have a tougher schedule to finish the season, imo, with a couple games against the Cavs back to back, not to mention 2 games against their rival Pacers and a potentially treacherous home game against the Warriors. The Pacers, meanwhile, have more home games against lesser competition. 2 of their 3 final road games are against the Knicks, and seeing how competitive each of these teams is, I wouldn't be surprised to see these Knicks/Pacers games split 1-1.

I think the Sonics catch the Jazz. The Jazz season ending schedule is tough, and they've been sliding backwards for a few sims now. The Sonics have an easier schedule and a more upward trajectory. They're the only team besides the Blazers that has a chance at beating the Warriors 3 times, and seeing that they're a .500 team, that 1.) makes me furious and 2.) makes me think they'll probably beat me our last game of the season and finish more than several games above .500.

We shall see!

[BigDaddyd8720]

Will the Knicks catch the Pacers?
I'm gonna flip the first question to "will the Knicks hold off the Pacers" since they have already passed them up. The knicks schedule is much harder than the Pacers, especially since the knicks still have a game against the Warriors. Plus, Knicks have more road games (5 games to the Pacers 3). I see the Pacers making one last jump to take the 3 seed and then holding on to it. Notice I said "3 seed." This is because I wouldn't be surprised if, because of their schedule, the Cavaliers drop a good bit of games these last two sims since they have a majority of road games. Watch out for the Pacers to finish 3, Knick to finish 4, and the Cavs to finish 5.

Will the Sonics catch the Jazz?
I'm probably gonna jinx myself but I have faith in my team to get the job done. The Jazz have stumbled a bit recently while my Supersonics have started to play more consistently. The biggest factor to this is not only the amount of home games my Supersonics have left, but the fact that two of those remaining home games are against the Jazz. So all my team has to do is at least match the Jazz in the other games and then take care of business in those two home games. We do that, then we will jump them for that last playoff spot to complete the ultimate cinderella story of going from a 9 win team to a playoff team in just one season. Hopefully I can get it done!

[NY_Magic_Garrett]

Will the Knicks catch the Pacers?
Easy answer. Done. Haha I do think this question would be more suited for if I will catch the Cavs. Given we play each other 3 times this next sim. That being said, this will probably be unpopular, but not only do I think we hold off the Pacers, I think we catch the Cavs and take the 3 spot. It took most of the season but we have found a real groove in our current gameplan and 2 of the 3 games against the Cavs are in NY. I think we have a chance to have a better sim than Cavs and at least match the Pacers. The final sim on the regular season is a short one for us and I think we can make the jump and hold them both off. Let the games begin

Will the Sonics catch the Jazz?
I am pulling for BigDaddy here, but unfortunately I think they just barely miss out on the 6th spot. The Why and How are simple to me. Kiki and Kiki. I think the Jazz outscore enough people down the stretch to hold off the Sonics. Sonics just don't quite have the firepower to make the playoff leap just yet imo.
>>i am also pissed bc I read your answer before I wrote this David and im not afraid to say that had something to do with this

[Mike Lowry]

MAN!!!
Shout out to the involved parties, because when I asked, I didn't even trip how deep this gets.
Seen some insights that I certainly hadn't considered prior.
First, I think the Cavs could get walked down and lose that 3 spot, but I think the Pacers have a better chance of doing it than the Knicks.
New York made up a lot of ground over the last 2 sims, but they were mostly gettin fat against tank teams.
The schedule to end the season does give them the head up fades they need to close the gap, but I don't think they will dominate those matchups the way they would need to.
Even with 2 games at New York, I think the Pacers have the friendliest schedule, and the Cavs have the toughest, but the Cavs will stay ahead of the Knicks by winning the head up matchups.

In the West I like the Sonics to catch the Jazz by handling business against the Clippers and Spurs. Aside from the head up matches, 3 games against the Clipps will be welcome matchups.

Also, didn't mention the 6ers jumpin the Celtics, but that's happenin.
The Celts have a guantlet to run and it's going to be brutal. The 6ers will be runnin through some tank jobs to close the season and squeeze into that 6 seed.

[WigNosy]

Will the Knicks (hold-off is more appropriate than catch) the Pacers?
Will the Sonics catch the Jazz?
Why and How?

The Knicks will be able to hang on to the 5 seed; they have 4 games against teams that are either in the tank or just aren't very good (4/6 at Bulls, 4/13 at Nets, 4/16 at Nuggets, and 4/17 vs Rockets) and 5 of their 7 other games are at home. The Pacers, by contrast, have the only the Nuggets and Pistons at home among teams that are bad. The Pacers could of course prove me wrong by sweeping the Knicks in their remaining games (4/9 and 4/21) but with both games in New York, I wouldn't hold my breath if I was an Indiana fan.

If the Jazz lose either their 4/2 home date with the Rockets or their 4/7 away game versus the Mavericks, they're in serious trouble; the rest of their schedule is pretty rough (2 games against the Warriors, and games against playoff teams in the Celtics, Suns, Blazers, and Lakers) while the Sonics draw the Spurs, Nets, and Clippers three times down the stretch... and host the two head-to-head contests with the Jazz. If the Jazz sweep the Sonics at home, they have a chance, but I think the Jazz' schedule might be too brutal.

[Mike Lowry]

@greepleairport
@BigDaddyd8720
@NY_Magic_Garrett
@Mike Lowry
@WigNosy

+1 Point