Lotto will be rigged for Lakers I'm sure

No shit.

Ball. So. Harden!

What a quarter for him.

Rockets taking the Pacers to the woodshed, goodness. The Western Conference playoffs are going to be a bloodbath, but entertaining as hell.

Welp. Time to start taking the Rockets seriously.

I'm not too concerned about the Pacers recent losses, but damn. All meltdown on NBA Friday? K, Rockets....just....k.

I've been saying that all season. Dwight is happy, the team is jelling and they can play with anyone. Their biggest problem would be matching up with the Clippers early. For some reason (Chris Paul) its a bad match up for the Rockets. However, they are getting closer at being able to beat them. Last time they played it was a back-to-back situation and the last game of a 5 game WC road trip and it was anyone's game till the end...Im sticking to my Rockets / OKC Western Conf Finals pre season prediction. Its burried in this thread somewhere, along with lots of posts telling me I was "dreaming" and that "Howard would not work out in Houston." LMAO

True, but keep in mind that the Clippers had crucial injuries and were playing their third game in four days. Both teams were disadvantaged in some way and that's why it turned out to be a grind-it-out type of game.

also keep in mind, there's still a team out there called the Spurs too

They're as good as always. Horrible matchup for us, too, as they know better than any other team how to contain CP3. Definitely want to avoid them at all costs.

The Western Conference playoffs are going to be a bloodbath.

Which has proven not to be much of a problem for Houston this season. However, the playoffs are a different animal and the Spurs must be respected.

I really do believe the Spurs don't have much of a contention in the West this year in the playoffs... Thunder, Rockets, and the Clippers are young and for the Spurs to go through teams like the Warriors, Phoenix and Dallas (and the teams above) are going to show the Spurs age.

That has been the argument against the Spurs for several years and hasn't happened yet.

But in what years has the West truly been this deep?

T-Jones just can't handle someone like Griffin yet. Clippers are a horrible matchup. But I think they both finish ahead of the Blazers and avoid each other. Still don't see a conference championship appearance by the Rockets. Still young, not a great bench, and trouble closing games under McHale. Probably gonna take one or two more years.