11 Games till the Playoffs! The remaining schedule

By Lee Eric Smith On March 23, 2011 · Add Comment · In March 2011

11 games to pay-dirt, oh, I mean the playoffs! Well, for us that is pay-dirt. It isn’t gold, but it isn’t fool’s gold either.

The Grizzlies are sitting good with a 2 game lead over Houston (the one team we don’t want to end up tied with, as they have the tie-breaker over us). Then they have a 3 games over Phoenix (with the series win) and 3 over Utah (with a tied series 2-2, but Memphis has the tie breaker edge).

Can Denver be overtaken for 5th place finish? They survived their recent run against some of the leagues best. Now they have the easiest schedule left of the 5th to 11th group. So, I would say Denver has the 5th place spot all but locked. Portland, of course, would contest that and they are playing well enough to make you wonder.

New Orleans plays 8 games against the 5th to 11th group in their final 11 games and 10 of them have a +500 record. The Grizzlies could over take them. But do they want to do that and play probably the Lakers?

Memphis does have an easier SOS left escept for Denver and Houston. The next 3 games could be the make or break game for the Grizzlies. After running the gauntlet against Boson and Chicago away and then San Antonio at home they have a SOS left of 0.420.

Below is a table that shows the remaining schedule for 5th to 11th position. For the first two weeks I have the winning percentage for the opposing teams.

Here’s a few other sites you can check about the playoffs.

Place	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th

	Den	PORT	NOH	MEM	HOU	PHO	Utah
Record	42-29	41-30	40-31	39-32	37-34	35-34	36-35
Win %	0.592	0.577	0.563	0.549	0.521	0.507	0.507
GB 5th	0.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	5.0	6.0	6.0
Home	28-7	25-10	24-11	25-10	21-14	19-15	20-15
Away	14-22	16-20	16-20	14-22	16-20	16-19	16-20
Div.	8-4	8-5	8-4	5-8	4-9	8-6	6-7
Conf.	23-19	23-18	22-20	24-19	21-24	19-22	18-24
Last 10	7-3	7-3	5-5	6-4	7-3	4-6	4-6
		GAMES	LEFT TO	PLAY
Total	11	11	11	11	11	13	11
Home	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Away	5	5	5	5	5	7	5
> 500	6	9	10	6	6	8	9
? 500	5	2	1	5	5	5	2
Div.	5	3	4	4	4	3	3
Conf.	10	9	10	9	7	13	11
SOS	0.495	0.620	0.553	0.512	0.496	0.533	0.580
			Remaining	Schedule
	=Conf’ence	game		= Division	game		Teams in playoffs
Date	Den	PORT	NO	MEM	HOU	PHO	Utah
3/23	SAS			@Bos	GSW	Tor	@OKC
3/23	0.814			0.725	0.423	0.286	0.652
3/24			@Utah				NOH
3/24			0.507				0.563
3/25	Was	SAS	@Pho	@Chi		NOH
3/25	0.250	0.814	0.515	0.725		0.563
3/26							Dal
3/26							0.700
3/27		@OKC	@LAL	SAS	@Mia	Dal
3/27		0.652	0.714	0.814	0.686	0.700
3/28		@SAS					Was
3/28		0.814					0.250
	Den	PORT	NO	MEM	HOU	PHO	Utah
3/29					@NJN	@Sac
3/29					0.319	0.246
3/30	Sac	@NOH	Por	GSW	@Phil	OKC
3/30	0.246	0.563	0.571	0.423	0.514	0.652
3/31
4/1	@Sac	OKC	Mem	@NOH	SAS	LAC	LAL
4/1	0.246	0.652	0.549	0.563	0.814	0.380	0.714
4/2				Min
4/2				0.239
4/3	@LAL	Dal	Ind		Atl	@SAS	@Sac
4/3	0.714	0.700	0.437		0.571	0.814	0.246
4/4
4/5	OKC	GSW		LAC	Sac	@Chi	@LAL
4/5	0.652	0.423		0.380	0.246	0.725	0.714
4/6	@Dal		Hou		@NOH	@Min
4/6	0.700		0.521		0.563	0.239
4/7		@Utah					Por
4/7		0.507					0.571
4/8	@OKC	LAL	Pho	Sac		@NOH
4/8	0.652	0.714	0.515	0.246		0.563
4/9	Min				LAC		@SAS
4/9	0.239				0.380		0.814
4/10			@Mem	NOH		@Dal
4/10			0.549	0.563		0.700
4/11	GSW		Utah		Dal	Min	@NOH
4/11	0.423		0.507		0.700	0.239	0.563
4/12		Mem		@Por
4/12		0.549		0.571
4/13	@Utah	@GSW	@Dal	@LAC	@Min	SAS	Den
4/13	0.507	0.423	0.700	0.380	0.239	0.814	0.592
	Den	PORT	NO	MEM	HOU	PHO	Utah