Daily Update and Projections -- Games of 12/22 -- Anti-Tank Edition

Tank?  Did someone say tank?

Sorry, we've got games to win.  In case no one noticed, we can still outplay good teams even with the guys we have, and Rudy is coming back, and Nic, and hopefully Travis.  Grab a win here and a win there, keep in the hunt, this is no time to be quitting on this team.

Spare us the "could-have-beens", too.  We are where we are.  This is the team we have, and I'm proud of them for gutting out wins against Houston when Greg went down, and last night with the loss of Joel.  THIS TEAM, the guys who will take the floor tonight, are your Portland Trailblazers.  If you want to quit on them, go support the L@kers or something.  The rest of us will hang in there with them.

Do Joel or Greg or Nic or Travis or Rudy want to hear about tanking?  What will encourage your fallen teammates more, fighting hard and winning as many as you can, or folding?

In case no one noticed, Brandon Roy is still a pretty good ballplayer, LMA can still make the occasional good play, and there's a few other guys around who occasionally manage to get a rebound or make a shot. 

So we may not make the playoffs.  That's certainly possible.  But I for one will never call for my team to tank.  I want guys who want to win and will do all they can to make it happen.  That's Joel's style, and I hope the rest follow his example. 

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

Yesterday:

1. Well, we all know what happened in Dallas.  Really nice win for the guys who could still walk.  It's a big one for the future because it removes just about the last alleged "hex" over this team.  We won't fear going to Dallas any more, we took them on when barely standing and still won, and we didn't even need an all-world game from Brandon to do it.  We won it with hard defense and some breaks.  The projections are a total joke, since the team playing the last 50 games for us won't even remotely resemble the team playing the first 30, but this win did make our projection look better, FWIW, moving us ahead of Utah.  The loss knocked Dallas from 2nd to 4th in the projections.
2. The L@kers dodged a bullet and beat the "Blunder" in a close one.  That gives OKC a losing record, triggering recategorizations of their games.  Don't count them out of the playoff hunt yet, though.  Kobe had 40, Durant 30 but fouled out, and Westbrook missed a late 3 that would have tied it.
3. Houston won a Cat 1 Cream Puff at home against the Clips, led by Carl "Who Needs Teeth?" Landry with 27.  T-Mac scored 10 in 8 minutes -- that will catch some attention.

Projections:

1. L.A.  64.2 wins.   
2. Denver.  57.6 wins.
3. Phoenix.  57.2 wins. 
4. Dallas.  56.5 wins.
5. Houston.  52.3 wins.
6. Portland.  50.9 wins.
7. Utah.  50.3 wins.
8. S.A.  44.1 wins.
9. OKC.  42.6 wins.
10. N.O.  40.2 wins.

 Today's Games:

1. Portland at San Antonio.  Cat 4 Rocky Road for us, Cat 2 Jawbreaker for them.  The Spurs have Bonner out (hand).  That's what happens with old teams -- injuries.
2. Houston at Orlando.  Cat 4 back to back for the Rockets.  Budinger out for Houston for a couple weeks, McGrady playing limited minutes.  Nelson is back for Orlando, if not really up to speed yet.
3. Utah at Miami.  Cat 4 for the Jazz, who have lost three of their last five.  Korver still having trouble, is day to day.  Deron Williams is also day to day with a thumb injury.  Probably all the dodgeball those two guys played over the summer.
4. G.S. at N.O.  Cat 1 Cream Puff for the Hornets, pretty much a must-win for them at this stage of their season.  Back to back for the Warriors.  Turiaf and Biedrins have both returned to practice, but didn't play in last night's loss at Memphis.
5. Atlanta at Denver.  Cat 2 for the Nugs.  Atlanta is on a back to back, having blown out Minnesota the night before.  Joe Smith is out.  Billups may not play for Denver.
6. "Blunder" at Phoenix.  Cat 1 Cream Puff for the Suns, Cat 4 for OKC. 

An interesting opportunity for us.  Quite a few of our rivals have tough games.  If we can somehow eke out another win on this trip, it should really strengthen our position.