San Antonio Spurs seek sweep of Hornets
The Spurs have had the week off since beating the Hornets in New Orleans on Monday for a third consecutive time this season. Now Tony Parker and his mates go for the season sweep of their division rivals at home in an ESPN Friday night broadcast. Second-year guard George Hill has come alive for the Alamo City ballers, leading the Spurs in scoring six of their last 13 games, including Monday's win over the Hornets.
Some days are better than others. Allen Iverson’s Tuesday was pretty bad: The Philadelphia 76ers cut ties with their former superstar, and his wife Tawanna filed for divorce. Yikes.
But every cloud has a silver lining. If Iverson’s story follows that of Job, he’ll wind up even richer and live for another 140 years.
The NBA soldiers on this weekend with a pair of high-profile matchups, both on national television and both featuring some of the very best players in the game today. Too bad one of these teams is going to miss the playoffs.
New Orleans Hornets at San Antonio Spurs (-8, 197)
Friday, Mar. 5 - 9:30 p.m. (ET) ESPN
Okay, it is theoretically possible that the Hornets (31-31 SU, 30-31-1 ATS) will snap out of it and climb back into the Top 8 in the Western Conference. But they’re five games behind the Spurs (34-24 SU, 27-20-1 ATS) and the Portland Trail Blazers, who are tied for those last two coveted spots with about six weeks remaining in the regular season. The Hornets have dropped five of their last six games at 2-3-1 ATS. And Chris Paul (26.17 PER) has yet to begin practicing after missing more than a month to a torn meniscus.
One of those five losses was to Friday’s opponent. The Spurs have had their problems this year, but on Monday they had no problem defeating the Hornets 106-92 and cashing in as three-point road faves.
On Friday, they return home to the AT&T Center having played zero games in between – New Orleans was busy losing to Memphis on Wednesday. It’s a welcome break for the Spurs; they’ve played 10 of their last 12 games on the road, including eight in a row while the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo was in town.
The Spurs have won all three of their meetings with New Orleans at 3-0 ATS and don’t appear ready to stop anytime soon. Coach Gregg Popovich has addressed some of his team’s issues by putting Richard Jefferson (12.33 PER) in a reserve role and releasing veteran Michael Finley (6.61 PER), who is reportedly signing with the Boston Celtics for the remainder of the season. The maturation of guard George Hill (14.21 PER) in his sophomore campaign gives Popovich ample reason to make these moves; Hill has led the Spurs in scoring six times in the past 13 games.
Early betting odds have the Spurs as 8-point favorites with a total of 197 points. ESPN brings this contest to your living room starting at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
Los Angeles Lakers at Orlando Magic
Sunday, Mar. 7 - 2:30 p.m. (ET) ABC
Nine months have already passed since the Lakers (46-15 SU, 26-32-3 ATS at press time) and Magic (42-20 SU, 33-38-1 ATS) met in the NBA Finals. A lot can happen in nine months. The Lakers have become a more well-rounded team with Ron Artest (plus-3.3 Roland Rating) supplying shutdown defense and Andrew Bynum (19.87 PER) staying relatively healthy.
The Magic have also developed into a strong two-way team thanks to the offensive burst provided by Vince Carter (16.09 PER). They could easily meet again in the Finals.
First, they’ll meet again on Sunday. The Lakers have all their starters back in the lineup after weathering assorted injuries, but their reserve corps is thin without Luke Walton (back) and Sasha Vujacic (shoulder). That’s a recipe for disaster at the pay window. With so much chalk and not enough manpower, Los Angeles was 1-5-1 ATS heading into Thursday’s matchup with the Miami Heat. Orlando has tremendous depth and a very healthy 5-1 SU and ATS record over the past six games.
Handicappers are looking for a better result than the first Magic-Lakers game of the season back in January. That one ended in a push as L.A. mounted a strong fourth-quarter comeback to beat Orlando 98-92 at the Staples Center. The Lakers had their full bench at the time, so Sunday’s rematch at the O-Rena should be that much more challenging.
You can catch the game on ABC starting at 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Spurs have had the week off since beating the Hornets in New Orleans on Monday for a third consecutive time this season. Now Tony Parker and his mates go for the season sweep of their division rivals at home in an ESPN Friday night broadcast. Second-year guard George Hill has come alive for the Alamo City ballers, leading the Spurs in scoring six of their last 13 games, including Monday's win over the Hornets.
Some days are better than others. Allen Iverson’s Tuesday was pretty bad: The Philadelphia 76ers cut ties with their former superstar, and his wife Tawanna filed for divorce. Yikes.
But every cloud has a silver lining. If Iverson’s story follows that of Job, he’ll wind up even richer and live for another 140 years.
The NBA soldiers on this weekend with a pair of high-profile matchups, both on national television and both featuring some of the very best players in the game today. Too bad one of these teams is going to miss the playoffs.
New Orleans Hornets at San Antonio Spurs (-8, 197)
Friday, Mar. 5 - 9:30 p.m. (ET) ESPN
Okay, it is theoretically possible that the Hornets (31-31 SU, 30-31-1 ATS) will snap out of it and climb back into the Top 8 in the Western Conference. But they’re five games behind the Spurs (34-24 SU, 27-20-1 ATS) and the Portland Trail Blazers, who are tied for those last two coveted spots with about six weeks remaining in the regular season. The Hornets have dropped five of their last six games at 2-3-1 ATS. And Chris Paul (26.17 PER) has yet to begin practicing after missing more than a month to a torn meniscus.
One of those five losses was to Friday’s opponent. The Spurs have had their problems this year, but on Monday they had no problem defeating the Hornets 106-92 and cashing in as three-point road faves.
On Friday, they return home to the AT&T Center having played zero games in between – New Orleans was busy losing to Memphis on Wednesday. It’s a welcome break for the Spurs; they’ve played 10 of their last 12 games on the road, including eight in a row while the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo was in town.
The Spurs have won all three of their meetings with New Orleans at 3-0 ATS and don’t appear ready to stop anytime soon. Coach Gregg Popovich has addressed some of his team’s issues by putting Richard Jefferson (12.33 PER) in a reserve role and releasing veteran Michael Finley (6.61 PER), who is reportedly signing with the Boston Celtics for the remainder of the season. The maturation of guard George Hill (14.21 PER) in his sophomore campaign gives Popovich ample reason to make these moves; Hill has led the Spurs in scoring six times in the past 13 games.
Early betting odds have the Spurs as 8-point favorites with a total of 197 points. ESPN brings this contest to your living room starting at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
Los Angeles Lakers at Orlando Magic
Sunday, Mar. 7 - 2:30 p.m. (ET) ABC
Nine months have already passed since the Lakers (46-15 SU, 26-32-3 ATS at press time) and Magic (42-20 SU, 33-38-1 ATS) met in the NBA Finals. A lot can happen in nine months. The Lakers have become a more well-rounded team with Ron Artest (plus-3.3 Roland Rating) supplying shutdown defense and Andrew Bynum (19.87 PER) staying relatively healthy.
The Magic have also developed into a strong two-way team thanks to the offensive burst provided by Vince Carter (16.09 PER). They could easily meet again in the Finals.
First, they’ll meet again on Sunday. The Lakers have all their starters back in the lineup after weathering assorted injuries, but their reserve corps is thin without Luke Walton (back) and Sasha Vujacic (shoulder). That’s a recipe for disaster at the pay window. With so much chalk and not enough manpower, Los Angeles was 1-5-1 ATS heading into Thursday’s matchup with the Miami Heat. Orlando has tremendous depth and a very healthy 5-1 SU and ATS record over the past six games.
Handicappers are looking for a better result than the first Magic-Lakers game of the season back in January. That one ended in a push as L.A. mounted a strong fourth-quarter comeback to beat Orlando 98-92 at the Staples Center. The Lakers had their full bench at the time, so Sunday’s rematch at the O-Rena should be that much more challenging.
You can catch the game on ABC starting at 2:30 p.m. Eastern.