Finishing 4th instead of 3rd

[mountio]

I havent seen much talk about it around here, but isnt there a lot of logic to finishing fourth instead of third? We still get the home playoff series, but get Indiana in the next round instead of Miami. While its a long shot vs either of those teams, Id waaaaaaay rather take my chances against Indiana vs Miami, where I feel we have zero chance.
In terms of first round opponent, it looks like a coin toss as to whether we end up with Brooklyn, Washington or Chicago. Whether we finish 3rd or 4th, its just as likely that we play any one of these teams given how tight things are. While I would choose Wash out of the three, there is certainly no guarantee that they finish fifth.
Maybe Im just trying to find a silver lining after a brutal stomach-punch loss last night .. but I really do think finishing 4th might be the best of all worlds.
Thoughts?

[rocwell]

We are not winning championship this year anyway.

Just go with the flow. I'm sure we'll get what we deserve.

[BigCamB]

Either third or fourth it doesn't bother me. I'd like to get home court advantage though, would be cool for the city of Toronto. I'm sure the atmosphere would be amazing, and would be fun to see if they could step up to that challenge.

[mountio]

We are not winning championship this year anyway.

Just go with the flow. I'm sure we'll get what we deserve.

Agreed with that .. but having a hope in the 2nd round (assuming we can get there of course, which is a big assumption for now) sounds a lot better to me than being up against the Heat ...

[mountio]

Either third or fourth it doesn't bother me. I'd like to get home court advantage though, would be cool for the city of Toronto. I'm sure the atmosphere would be amazing, and would be fun to see if they could step up to that challenge.

Agree with that first and foremost, would take either 3rd or 4th with a shittier match up than 5th with a good match up. Ill be at every home game, so the more the better ...

[Jclaw]

I've got to admit, there may be some logic to that. It would not be as sweet to have a potential first round win rewarded by facing the heat. BTW…is there a version of "C**ltics" that we can come up with for the heat?. I guess we would have to finish ahead of just one of chi/bkn but not both (and not be ahead of both). But, I guess, don't count the chickens yet. I'd rather have Washington in the first round and then worry about who we face next rather than having chi/bkn in the first round and having less of a chance of making it out. So many interesting possibilities. On the plus side…just try and remember what you were wasting your time on this time last year and smile.

[planetmars]

You play to win and just let the chips fall where they may. Miami hasn't been playing well either. Toronto is something like 0-13 since the "Heatles" joined, but they are also much older and they must be tired (3 straight years in the finals can't be good for a body) and one injury could derail a series for them.

Not that I like their chances against Miami.. but it's not like I like their chances against Indiana anyway.

[ezz_bee]

Also, there's no guarantee that Indy will win the conference. Also, I actually think we've got a better chance against the Heat than we do the Pacers.

[Mack North]

You play to win and just let the chips fall where they may. Miami hasn't been playing well either. Toronto is something like 0-13 since the "Heatles" joined, but they are also much older and they must be tired (3 straight years in the finals can't be good for a body) and one injury could derail a series for them.

Not that I like their chances against Miami.. but it's not like I like their chances against Indiana anyway.

[mountio]

Also, there's no guarantee that Indy will win the conference. Also, I actually think we've got a better chance against the Heat than we do the Pacers.

True .. no guarantee, but up 3 games with 12 to go ... seems fairly likely. Looks like there will be a lot more movement between 3rd and 6th (2.5 games total between us and Washington in 6th .. super tight) than there will be between 1st and 2nd).

All Im saying, is when I think about my priorities, they are, in order
1) Home court
2) Indiana in the 2nd round over Miami
3) Whoever it happens to be between Chi, Brook, Washington

[Joey]

We are not winning championship this year anyway.

Just go with the flow. I'm sure we'll get what we deserve.

That's a losers mentality. You think Demar and Kyle go into any game, or will be going into the playoffs, saying "We're not going to win the Championship"?

I think they all believe that they can beat anybody if given 7 games to do it. They have to.


And so is the OP in the my opinion. You play to be the best. ALWAYS.
And I think playing the 6th seed vs the 5th will, 99 times out of 100, be the better option.

[Jordan Evans]

A lot could happen in this last stretch. NY could get the 8th seed, knocking ATL out, and also Miami could move up to the 1st seed. If Miami does that, we won't have to play them in the second round. We're matched up with the Wizards for the first round and I believe we can beat them. Now if Indiana drops to the second spot, we get them in the second round. So, it's not about how we do, it's about how everyone else does. We just have to maintain third seed.

[rocwell]

That's a losers mentality. You think Demar and Kyle go into any game, or will be going into the playoffs, saying "We're not going to win the Championship"?

I think they all believe that they can beat anybody if given 7 games to do it. They have to.


And so is the OP in the my opinion. You play to be the best. ALWAYS.
And I think playing the 6th seed vs the 5th will, 99 times out of 100, be the better option.

Losers mentality? Oh no buddy. I'm not there playing on the court.. I'm just a fan who's sharing realistic 'thought'.

Our boys think differently than me. They play to be the best, just like you said.

[mountio]

That's a losers mentality. You think Demar and Kyle go into any game, or will be going into the playoffs, saying "We're not going to win the Championship"?

I think they all believe that they can beat anybody if given 7 games to do it. They have to.


And so is the OP in the my opinion. You play to be the best. ALWAYS.
And I think playing the 6th seed vs the 5th will, 99 times out of 100, be the better option.

I would agree with this statement speaking in the abstract (ie in any random sport, any random season). But, in this particular set of circumstances, where 3-6 are likely to finish a game or two away from each other (and thus in the grand scheme of things are pretty similar teams) - I would chose the match up. In this case, I think the first round match ups are close enough, that I would default to the better 2nd round match up.

As people have said here, obviously if Miami gets ahead of Indiana, Id prefer to be 3rd/6th, but to me, Indiana is a MUCH easier 2nd round opponent.

[BigCamB]

I honestly don't want to think about the Second Round at all, the First Round is going to be extremely difficult to win for starters, and winning it would be a huge effort.


But if I had a choice.............Both Indy and Miami are slumping, but I back Miami to be able to switch it on in the playoffs, and I would not want to play them. I think we matchup rather well with Indy overall.