Daily Update and Projections -- Games of 12/21

Explanation of categories and projection methods in my latest Sched Ahead weekly update.

Yesterday:

1. Probably not playoff related, but Ime was a key trigger in a 35 point comeback for the Kings against the Bulls.  Too amazing to neglect to mention.
2. The Jazz follow in our footsteps, losing a Cat 4 Rocky Road to the Magic.  Dwight hit 11-14 FTs -- is that legal?  Vince Carter did marginally better against them, with 5-15.  Since the Jazz hardly ever win a Cat 4, this didn't hurt them much in the projections. 
3. The Spurs blew out the Clippers in a Cat 1 Cream Puff at home.  Of interest -- DeJuan Blair started in place of McDyess at center, and was the only Spurs starter not to score in double figures (they also had 3 in double figures off the bench).  No change in their projections -- the spreadsheet gave them a 100% chance of a win, due to their perfect record so far in Cream Puff games.
4. The notable game was at Phoenix, where Cleveland ran away from the Suns in the fourth, Phoenix taking their first home loss of the season in a tough Cat 2.  Cleveland was on a back to back, having lost to Dallas the night before, but it didn't seem to bother them.  The Suns hope to have Barbosa back sometime this week.  This means a huge hit to their projections, as they were 2-0 in Cat 2s, and thus projected to win all of their remaining Cat 2s.  Now, they are only projected to win 2/3 of them.

Projections:

1. L.A.  66.5 wins.   
2. Dallas.  58.5 wins.
3. Denver.  57.5 wins.
4. Phoenix.  56.1 wins. 
5. Houston.  54.4 wins.
6. Utah.  48.7 wins.
7. Portland.  48.6 wins.
8. OKC.  43.4 wins.
9. S.A.  42.6 wins.
10. N.O.  39.4 wins.

 Today's Games:

1. Portland at Dallas.  Cat 4 Rocky Road for us, Cat 2 Jawbreaker for them.  Dirk listed as day to day.  If we win this, Christmas definitely came early this year.
2. Clippers at Houston.  Cat 1 Cream Puff for the Rockets.  Clips are on a back to back.  Landry is listed as day to day.  If you are going to take a bite out of someone, perhaps the elbow isn't the best place.
3. "Blunder" at L@kers.  Cat 4 for the "Blunder", Cat 2 for L@kers.  If L.A. wins, that will give OKC a losing record, and thus the Cat 2 will become a Cat 1.  L@kers return home after a long road trip.  This is the first of a brutal back to back for the "Blunder", they play at Phoenix tomorrow. 

So, three games of interest, five Western playoff contenders in action.  No one expects us to win this game, so nothing to lose.  These guys are very good, but have lost home games to some weaker teams (Washington, G.S), so don't write us off.  The "Blunder" have some easy games ahead, so it would be good to open that gap wider.