OBSOLETE -- Sched Ahead Daily Update, Games of 2/27

This is obsolete now, someone needs to unrec it.

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Well, that was fun, we ought to do it more often.  On a day when we're reminded that no game in the NBA is a sure thing (see NJ @ Boston), the Blazers take care of business nicely.

Yesterday's update.

Most recent weekly update, including game category definitions.

Yesterday's Games

"Sorting out" day, as Portland sorts out Memphis and San Antonio sorts out New Orleans.  The only likely threat is Houston, at this point, and they've been unimpressive since the Martin/Landry trade.  .

1. Portland @ Memphis.  A good win, locks up a successful road trip, now we can target a great road trip, and give ourselves a great chance at a winning road record for the year with a win at Memphis.  Coincidentally, we might also effectively nail down our playoff spot with a win there.
2. Memphis @ NY.  A must win for Memphis, and All-Star Zach Randolph came up huge, with 31 points and 25 rebounds against his former team.  Hope he got rid of all his "revenge against former team" production in that one, and saved none for us.  Marc Gasol add 25 and 13 with 8 assists and Rudy Gay scored 27.  Bizarrely, the Grizzlies have won four straight road games but lost six straight at home.  Perhaps that trend will continue for at least one more game.
3. Houston @ Utah.  Deron Williams scored 20 in the first quarter, and finished with 35 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds, as Utah stomped all over Houston.  Williams only took 17 shots, and was 4-4 on 3s.  The Rockets were led by Kevin Martin with 32 in his second straight 30 point game, but they needed four guys to score 30 in this one, after getting 30 from three players the night before.  Kirilenko missed again with back spasms, Ariza was out for the third straight game with a hip pointer, and Battier was out with flu-like symptoms.

Also of note, Miami dropped below .500, triggering recategorizations again, with small technical adjustments to the projections accordingly.

Projections

1. L.A.  61.1 wins (up from 60.8).   
2. Denver.  55.0 wins (up from 54.7).
3. Dallas.  53.6 wins (down from 53.7).
4. Utah.  52.1 wins (up from 51.9).
5. Phoenix.  50.9 wins (up from 50.7).  
6. OKC.  48.4 wins (down from 48.9).
7. Portland.  46.8 wins (up from 46.6).
8. S.A.  45.3 wins (up from 45.2).
9. N.O.  42.6 wins (down from 42.8, up from 10th).
10. Houston.  41.9 wins (down from 43.0 in 9th).
11. Memphis.  40.4 wins (up from 40.3).

Some of the gains for teams that won last night were wiped out by the recategorization, but still a positive move for us, while Houston plummets.  Don't count the Rockets out quite yet, their schedule next week isn't too bad, so they've got a chance to start a run, but the hole out of which they must dig is a lot bigger than it was a week ago,

Tonight

1. Phoenix @ San Antonio.  A big game for both teams.  It's a Cat 4 "Rocky Road" for Phoenix, as they try to distance themselves from the teams just behind them and possibly challenge for the top 4 and home court advantage in the first round.  For San Antonio, it is a chance to send a message that they CAN beat good teams, at least at home, and that they aren't going to be rolling over and dying when faced with a very difficult remaining schedule.  Alternatively, it's a chance to send a message that the chasing teams who are looking at Portland might be looking in the wrong direction, it is the Spurs who are perhaps the most vulnerable.  We shall see which message gets sent.
2. Denver @ L.A.  The Nuggets still have slim hopes of catching the L@kers for the top seed, but realistically, this is about securing their position as the second seed in the West in the face of a rising challenge from Dallas and Utah.  Denver is 2-0 against the L@kers this year, and L.A. remembers that fact.  The Road looks likely to be Rocky for Denver in this Cat 4 game.
3. Toronto @ OKC.  A chance for the Raptors to do us some favors in the coming week, starting in OKC.  A Cat 2 "Jawbreaker" for the "Blunder", who really haven't been all that good at home against winning teams.
4. N.O. @ Dallas.  A possible chance for Dallas to make up ground on Denver in the seedings race, but New Orleans has been holding up fairly well, hovering near .500 with their rookie guards while CP3 is out.  New Orleans has plenty of tough games remaining, if they can steal a few of them like this one it will really help them mount a challenge.  A loss, though, and they drop three games off the pace, and with a more difficult remaining record than Portland's, it is going to be tough.

The Western contenders start to chew each other up, as there are only four games of interest, but three of them involve big head to head matchups.  Three will win, three will lose.  Of greatest interest, probably, are the Phoenix/S.A. game and the N.O. game.  The first involves two teams ahead of us in the standings, one of which, at least, we have a reasonable chance to catch.  The second involves the team closest behind us in a game they will be expected to lose.