Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni is confident in any playoff format

Houston Rockets: D’Antoni confident regardless of opponent

We haven’t heard which format the league intends to utilize, as there have been a littany of possibilities, such as a potential play-in tournament, a World Cup style format, and possibly starting the playoffs at the conclusion of a mini-camp, which would be held to ensure the players get back in playing shape.

We’ve even heard how the league is open to abandoning the traditional playoff format, which is the top eight teams in each conference by record, and doing a re-seeding based on the top 16 teams with the best record.

Regardless of which format and which opponent the Rockets face, coach Mike D’Antoni remains confident, as he also explained.

“I like where we are, I like what we have. And I know we had some shortcomings, but we match up well with everybody.”

This is certainly the confidence Houston Rockets fans would want to hear and it goes along with everything we’ve heard from the Rockets all season. We’ve heard team owner Tilman Fertitta state that none of the teams in the Western Conference strike fear in the Rockets, and rightfully so as they’ve won games against both the LA Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers, who are the top seeds in the West.

It’ll be interesting to see what format is in fact adopted, as the standard format would mean a first round matchup against the Denver Nuggets, who the Rockets went 2-2 against during the regular season. If the top 16 format is adopted, the Rockets would face the Utah Jazz, who they’ve eliminated from the playoffs in each of the last two years.

Although we don’t yet know what the league will decide, one thing is for sure: Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni will be confident regardless of the opponent.