Cavs Beat Pistons - Move to 2 1/2 Games From Playoffs

[George O'Brien]

Last night the Cavs beat the Pistons 85 to 82 inspite of poor shooting by LeBron James. Playing without Okur, the Pistons shot only 38.4% from the field. This win brought the Cavs to only 2 1/2 games out of the qualifying for the playoffs. The 8th ranked team in the East is Boston who was idle.

What are the Cavs chances of making the playoffs and thus giving the Suns the long awaited draft pick? The answer is - not bad. The Cavs have won 8 of their last 11 games. Two of their their three loses were to Western Conference teams. Two of their wins were against the Heat and the Sizers, teams that are above the Cavs in the race for a playoff slot.

One of the elements of this streak has been the additon of Jeff McInnis from Portland. McInnis has not been shooting well, but he is running the offense and averaging 6.7 assists per game.

If anything, the Cavs should get better as new players added from Boston and McInnis get adjusted to the Cavs. McInnis is shooting only 34.5% in Cleveland after shooting 47.1% in Portland. Eric Williams is only shooting 38.5% after shooting 4.35% in Boston. Kendrick Brown's shooting is down from 45.5% to 42.7%. Tony Battie is shooting only 43.3% compared to 47.9%.

Recent reports are that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is playing better defense and his offense is making a real difference. Last week he had three games with more than 10 rebounds.

Carlos Boozer has been having a great year averaging 14.4 ppg on 51.6% shooting and 11 rpg. He has average 22.3 ppg over the last 8 games.

And of course there is LeBron. His overall shooting percentage is only 41.1%, but he averages 20.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 5.9 assists per game.

This team would not be competitive in the West, but the three teams they have to pass are not playing all that well: Celtics, Heat and Sixers. In the East, the Cavs have a real shot at the playoffs.

Which would give the Suns another draft pick.

 

[carey]

Question about lottery picks. Is it the 13 teams with the worst record that get lottery picks, or is it the 13 teams that don't make the play-offs?

It seems like there will be some teams in the West that don't make the play-offs with better records than teams in the East that do.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by carey
Question about lottery picks. Is it the 13 teams with the worst record that get lottery picks, or is it the 13 teams that don't make the play-offs?

It seems like there will be some teams in the West that don't make the play-offs with better records than teams in the East that do.

My understanding is that the lottery is made up of teams that did not make the playoffs, but after that the ranking is by record. I think this means the Suns would get the Cleveland pick even if is in first 14 picks (the Bobcats get #4). I could be mistaken.

 

[SweetD]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
My understanding is that the lottery is made up of teams that did not make the playoffs, but after that the ranking is by record. I think this means the Suns would get the Cleveland pick even if is in first 14 picks (the Bobcats get #4). I could be mistaken.

The Pick is protected to 17 I thought I would need to be higher than 17 before the suns would get the pick.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by SweetD
The Pick is protected to 17 I thought I would need to be higher than 17 before the suns would get the pick.

Where did you hear that? I heard it was lottery protected, which would mean just to 14.

 

[Joe Mama]

There are currently 29 teams in the NBA, but the 30th team (Charlotte) will get the #4 pick in the draft this summer. 16 teams make the playoffs each year. Therefore there will be 14 teams in the lottery this summer. It's reasonably safe to assume that if Cleveland does make the playoffs they will be the seventh or eighth seed. They will also definitely have a worse record than any of the teams to make the playoffs in the Western Conference.

Bottom line is if Cleveland makes the playoffs, the Suns get their draft pick which will most likely be the 15th or 16th pick. The real prize for the Phoenix Suns would be off the New York Knicks do not make the playoffs.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
The real prize for the Phoenix Suns would be off the New York Knicks do not make the playoffs.
Joe Mama

Then do you think Thomas would get fired?

 

[SunsTzu]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
There are currently 29 teams in the NBA, but the 30th team (Charlotte) will get the #4 pick in the draft this summer. 16 teams make the playoffs each year. Therefore there will be 14 teams in the lottery this summer. It's reasonably safe to assume that if Cleveland does make the playoffs they will be the seventh or eighth seed. They will also definitely have a worse record than any of the teams to make the playoffs in the Western Conference.

Bottom line is if Cleveland makes the playoffs, the Suns get their draft pick which will most likely be the 15th or 16th pick. The real prize for the Phoenix Suns would be off the New York Knicks do not make the playoffs.

Joe Mama

Are you sure about the pick? I remember reading the trade transaction that it was 1-13 protected not lottery protected. I'm curious if thats true and Cavs get the 14th pick in the lottery do we get it?

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I dont know if there is a real way to figure it out. Actually, SunTzu, I think you are on to something. I am not sure a pick can be protected from the lottery, for some reason I have the gut feeling it has to be protected from a number standpoint. So if it is top 13 protected, we might actually get it.

Actually, now that I think about it more, it doesn't matter. The 9th place western conference team will have a worse record than the 9th place eastern conference team for sure. So even if the cavs miss out on the playoffs, they will get seeded higher than 14 in the lottery.

 

[SunsTzu]

Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr


Actually, now that I think about it more, it doesn't matter. The 9th place western conference team will have a worse record than the 9th place eastern conference team for sure. So even if the cavs miss out on the playoffs, they will get seeded higher than 14 in the lottery.

It's a lottery though so there is a chance they could get 14.

 

[Chaplin]

Man, Orlando is playing without Tracy McGrady and losing by 24 points to the Raptors. BOTH Donyell Marshall and Jalen Rose had over 20 points before the 4th quarter started.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Originally posted by SunsTzu
It's a lottery though so there is a chance they could get 14.

I don't think so. I would assume at least 3 west teams would have a better record than the Cavs in that scenario, so it wouldn't be possible

 

[SunsTzu]

Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr
I don't think so. I would assume at least 3 west teams would have a better record than the Cavs in that scenario, so it wouldn't be possible

Huh? The 13 teams that don't make the playoff will be in the lottery. The Bobcats have the automatic #4. So the lottery with 13 teams that failed to make the playoffs will be for picks 1-14(with 4 pick not available). So if the Cavs miss the playoffs they could get the 14th pick in the lottery. Not Likely but possible.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

The lottery is still designed by worst record picks higher. The teams have a percentage to get the top 3 picks.

So, if 3 western conference teams have better records than the Cavs (always a possibilty) and are also in the lottery, the highest pick the cavs can get is 11. The only way that would be pushed to 14 is if ALL 3 of those teams won either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd pick in the draft (almost impossible).


So yes, technically, I guess it could be possible............but very very very very very unlikely.

For them to get 14 outright, it would mean that the 9th place east team finished with a better record than the 9th place west team, which would never happen.

 

[Joe Mama]

Grahamcrackr,

I think you have the right idea, but a few mistakes in your posts have confused some of us.

Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr
Actually, now that I think about it more, it doesn't matter. The 9th place western conference team will have a worse record than the 9th place eastern conference team for sure. So even if the cavs miss out on the playoffs, they will get seeded higher than 14 in the lottery.

I believe what you wanted to write is, "the ninth place eastern conference team will have a worse record than the ninth place eastern conference team for sure." That sounds correct, and it is the reason that if Cleveland does not make the playoffs they will almost certainly have a draft pick that is higher (closer to #1) than #14. At this point it seems very safe to assume that if Cleveland fails to make the playoffs the Phoenix Suns will have to wait until next year to get their pick.

Joe Mama

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
Grahamcrackr,

I think you have the right idea, but a few mistakes in your posts have confused some of us.



I believe what you wanted to write is, "the ninth place eastern conference team will have a worse record than the ninth place eastern conference team for sure."

Joe Mama

Are you sure that's what he means?