12/21/24
March 14, 2016
Pace Mannion NBA Pick 'Em: Week 18: Only five national games this week, including two games tonight on ESPN: Memphis vs Houston at 8 p.m. ET and Cleveland at Utah at 10:30 p.m. This is the week Howard_T falls back to the peloton.
posted by rcade to basketball at 03:35 PM - 13 comments
Mar. 14
Houston by 8
Cleveland by 10
Mar. 16
Oklahoma City by 13
L.A. Clippers by 8
Mar. 19
Golden State by 8
posted by rcade at 03:44 PM on March 14, 2016
Mar 14
Memphis by 4
Cleveland by 17 (Slam dunk)
Mar 16
OKC by 4
Clippers by 10
Mar 19
San Antone by 6 (provided Pop doesn't go all Pop-py and sit a bunch of his starters. I'll be keeping an eye out)
posted by Ufez Jones at 04:28 PM on March 14, 2016
The last contest week was certainly not one of my better efforts. Of course, Golden State threw everyone under the bus with their strange effort against Lakers. This week must be better, else I might return to mere mortality. My son and I will be at the Oklahoma City vs Boston game, and I will do what I can from the balcony to influence the outcome.
14 Mar
Houston by 6 Memphis is missing too much to beat a good team, but Houston is unpredictable.
Cleveland by 12 Utah can surprise, but only if they play a near-perfect game.
16 Mar
Oklahoma City by 10 SLAM in Beantown. Celtics are missing Crowder and will be on the 2nd night of a back-to-back.
Houston by 6 I do not trust Houston, but Clippers have also been erratic.
19 Mar
Golden State by 7 This will be an epic matchup and not decided until the last 30 seconds.
posted by Howard_T at 05:17 PM on March 14, 2016
Better watch out, Howard! I got you in my sights!
MARCH 14
MEM by 8
CLE by 12
MARCH 16
OKC by 9
LAC by 3
MARCH 19
SAS by 4
posted by NoMich at 05:33 PM on March 14, 2016
I'm watching ESPN right now, and it's Detroit at Washington, not Memphis at Houston. Is there some regional thing working here?
posted by Howard_T at 08:17 PM on March 14, 2016
Yeah, I got Detroit/Warshington on ESPN3.
posted by NoMich at 08:25 PM on March 14, 2016
Unless there was an error in this NBA schedule since corrected, I misread it today. Harrumph.
We'll stick with Memphis/Houston for the contest, obviously.
posted by rcade at 10:54 PM on March 14, 2016
Well this week is starting out ominously.
posted by Ufez Jones at 08:57 AM on March 15, 2016
Well, that sucked.
posted by NoMich at 10:12 AM on March 15, 2016
March 16
Boston by 5
Houston by 11
March 19
San Antonio by 4
No locks. I'll be happy to get out of this week with positive points.
posted by tron7 at 10:19 AM on March 15, 2016
I'm beginning to look at Cleveland with "a jaundiced eye". (I don't know who originated that expression, but it serves well here.) Utah can be very tough with their size in the paint, but can be beaten if you run your offense with good ball movement. I said Utah could win with a near-perfect game. Their game was really good last night, but I would not consider it near-perfect. Rather, Cleveland put together a stinker. There was far too much free-lance offense, the defensive scheme seemed unfocused, and overall they looked like a team that just wanted to get out of the building and onto the plane home. If the expectations in Cleveland are for the Cavaliers to make it to the NBA finals, someone needs to get that team playing hard every game. There is an element there that makes them a very vulnerable team that will disappoint their fans. Is it coaching? That's part of it, but unless the coach has some real power to bench or even dismiss some players (and believe it or not I do not include one Mr. James in that group), it will continue. They have a bad habit of trying to turn it on and off, depending on the opponent and situation.
posted by Howard_T at 03:18 PM on March 15, 2016
Houston, we have a problem.
Suspicions confirmed: Houston is a selfish basketball team. Perhaps it is because they lack the pieces to spread the offense around, perhaps it is because a few of their players do not feel that playing defense is part of a basketball game. I watched the second half of their game last night, after I got home from watching my Celtics put in one of their worst efforts of the season, and I was very disappointed in what I saw. My advice to myself is that if they show up in the pick-em again, playing anything more than a mediocre bottom-feeder of a team, don't pick them. If they can run around on offense, do what they want to do, rebound a little, and trust the opponent to self-destruct, then they will win and win big. Otherwise, they will find a way to lose. UGH.
Why, oh why, did I let myself believe they could beat the Clippers. I knew better, but I didn't want to face the ugly possibilities.
posted by Howard_T at 01:47 PM on March 17, 2016
NoMich wins the week. Ufez Jones almost wins it by being the only player who didn't make Golden State a slam dunk over the L.A. Lakers.
Rules
Pick the winner and spread for each game. Score 5 points if the team wins, 3 more points if your spread is close and another 2 if you hit the spread exactly.
At your option, make one game a slam dunk to triple your score in victory or lose 5 points in defeat.
Read the detailed rules on the first week's post.
If SportsFilter is down and you need to submit your picks, you can send them in email to me.
This Week's Games
Only five games this week. Nice matchups between Warriors/Spurs and Clippers/Rockets.