khandor’s sports blog

With last night’s loss to the LA Lakers, the Raptors [32-30] have now come up short in 6 of their last 7 games, and occupy the No. 6 position in the Eastern Conference standings, just 1.5 games ahead of the 9th place Chicago Bulls [31-32]. 

As they take the court for this evening’s tilt, in Sacramento [21-43], Toronto knows full well that another loss could see them drop into a virtual 3-way tie with Charlotte [31-31] and Miami [32-32] for 8th place in the East, if the Bobcats can overcome the 76ers [23-40], on the road, and the Heat can win, at home, against the hapless LA Clippers [25-39].

This is the line-up which Sacramento used last night, at Portland:

which, in turn, might generate the following individual match-ups this evening:

If the Raptors are going to stem the downward tide which has engulfed their team over the last 2 weeks, it will be up to:

A. Their 3 best players [overall] to dominate their respective checks;

B. Their head coach to match wits successfully with his counterpart;

and,

C. Their main wing players to contain the offensive fireworks that can sometimes erupt from the Kings’ pair of outstanding rookies, Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi.

Anything less than this will put Toronto squarely behind the 8-ball heading towards their final 2 games of this road trip, back-to-back encounters with Golden State [Sat] and Portland [Sun].

Although the Kings have also lost 4 of their last 5 games, each was against a very tough opponent and decided in the final minute of regulation time:

L, at Oklahoma City [35-23], 107-113
W, at Houston [30-29], 84-81
L, at Dallas [41-21], 100-108
L, vs Oklahoma City [35-23], 102-108
L, at Portland, 81-88 [37-28]

In fact, Sacramento is beginning to turn around what had deteriorated last season into a significant mess … especially, for a once-proud franchise, led by a very solid GM [Geoff Petrie].

If the Raptors under-estimate their foes this evening, in any respect, whatsoever, the Kings are more than good enough to hang another L on the visitors, in what is gradually turning out to be another season of overall mediocrity for the Dinos. 

Every year since the 2000-2001 season, each of the two teams which have reached the NBA Finals (i.e. the Champion and the Finalist) have also finished the regular season schedule with a Quality Rating (QR) of 34, or better, and a Quality Index Rank (QIR) of #11 or better (when compared to all playoff teams that year) … i.e. What it takes to win the NBA Championship.

If the NBA Playoffs were to start today, this is what the list of legitimate contenders to win the championship actually looks like:

There are only 9 teams in the hunt with a little more than 1 month’s worth of games left to be played.

4 in the Eastern Conference:

Cleveland Cavaliers [#1]
Orlando Magic [#2]
Charlotte Bobcats [#8], and
Boston Celtics [#9];

and,

5 in the Western Conference:

Los Angeles Lakers [#3]
San Antonio Spurs [#4]
Oklahoma City Thunder [#5]
Utah Jazz [#6], and
Portland Trail Blazers [#7].

When the numbers are crunched …