March 31, 2013
Los Angeles Clippers (45-28) vs. Houston Rockets (20-53)
Clippers – 130
Chris Paul – 26 PTS, 11 REB, 10 AST
Blake Griffin – 23 PTS, 9 REB
Jamal Crawford - 23 PTS, 7 REB
Rockets – 97
James Harden – 23 PTS, 5 AST
Jeremy Lin – 18 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST
Royce White (started due to Patterson injury) – 16 PTS, 14 REB, 2 STL, 2 BLK
Omer Asik – 16 PTS, 14 REB, 2 BLK
With another month down, Royce White made four of the six road trips with the team, boosting his Mental Health rating up to a 50. He seems to be feeling much better about our travel schedule and think that he could be finally getting over his anxiety disorder.
With just a handful of games left for everyone in the league, let’s take a look at some of the standings. The Southwest division belongs to the Spurs while the Northwest is all tied up between the Thunder and the Nuggets. The Lakers are kings of the Pacific division and also own the top spot with ten games remaining. The Spurs are lurking as they are just two games back of Los Angeles for the top seed in the West.
At the bottom of the Western Conference playoff bracket, the Mavericks are just 2.5 games ahead of the Warriors and the Timberwolves for the 7th spot. It looks like Golden State and Minnesota will battle for that final spot in the playoffs, but Portland is just one game back of both of them, so they have a shot of sneaking in as well.
In the Eastern Conference, the old Boston Celtics will win the Atlantic division barring a catastrophic collapse. The defending champion Miami Heat is just a measly 25.5 games ahead of the Washington Wizards in the Southeast division, sporting a ridiculous 61-12 overall record. They will have home court throughout the playoffs. The Central is tight as the Chicago Bulls lead the Milwaukee Bucks by just one game.
The Wizards are clinging on to the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference as they lead Indiana by half a game and Cleveland by one game in the standings. The Bulls lead the Nets and Bucks by one game for spots five through seven.
As for the lottery teams, The Toronto Raptors have all but wrapped up the best odds at winning the lottery with a putrid record of 13-59. The East will likely own the two worst records this season as Orlando isn't playing much better at 16-56. Next up are our own Houston Rockets who, at 20-54, have the worst record in the Western Conference. The Charlotte Bobcats (21-52) and the New Orleans Hornets (21-50) round out the bottom five for the league.