NBA Playoffs: Can Spurs Finish Mavs?
The Mavericks face a very simple proposition tonight when they host the Spurs in Game 5 of their frst round series: Win or stay home. After dropping the series opener last week, San Antonio has responded with three straight wins over Dallas, sparked in Sunday's Game 4 by second-year guard George Hill. NBA TV has the broadcast tonight from American Airlines Center with Dirk Nowitzki & Co. favored by five points.
George Hill is alive!
The Dallas Mavericks are on the brink of elimination in their best-of-seven series against their archrival San Antonio Spurs. Dallas won the opener SU and ATS and definitely appeared the better of the two teams in doing so. But the Spurs weren’t quite dead just yet. They won the next three games at 2-0-1 ATS, scoring two close victories at home and putting a stranglehold on this series.
If there was any question about how important Hill is to the Spurs, we got our answer Sunday when the sophomore guard hit five of his six trey attempts and scored 29 points with zero turnovers to lead San Antonio (-3) to a 92-89 victory. Hill was held scoreless in Game 1 and played just 18 minutes on a sore foot, but he rose from the ashes and gave the Spurs 45 minutes in each of the two games at the AT&T Center.
If you’re a Dallas supporter, I feel your pain. I was content to fade the Spurs with Hill injured and the Mavericks holding such a big advantage in the backcourt. However, Hill had other ideas. This is a major plot point for handicappers. Not only does Hill negate much of that backcourt advantage, he’s also considerably underrated in the marketplace. Here are four reasons why:
Compounding the problem is Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle’s decision to keep promising rookie guard Rodrigue Beaubois (18.59 PER) on the bench for virtually this entire series. When Carlisle has decided to use a three-guard set, he’s gone with Jose Juan Barea (12.84 PER), a competent scorer at 15.4 points per 40 minutes but a poor defender on a team that’s already starting Caron Butler (13.77 PER) at shooting guard.
Beaubois spent three years in the top league in France before coming to the NBA. He scored 40 points just one month ago against the Golden State Warriors. What more does a guy have to do to prove he’s ready?
Meanwhile, Hill has proven useful as a combo guard working in tandem with either Parker (16.49 PER) or Manu Ginobili (22.54 PER). That’s the kind of flexibility Jason Terry usually provides the Mavericks, but Terry is on the mend after he tweaked his ankle on Sunday and had to be taken to the dressing room in the second quarter. Terry returned and scored 13 points in the second half; he’s officially listed as questionable and didn’t practice Monday, but is expected to play.
The reversal of fortunes in the backcourt leaves Dallas needing to win Game 5 at home on Tuesday to extend this series. Betting odds opened with the Mavs getting five points and a total of 193.
Dallas was 3-1 SU and ATS versus San Antonio during the regular season; if the Spurs advance, they’ll be the first team since the 1997-98 Spurs to beat a first-round opponent despite losing the regular-season series. Gregg Popovich was San Antonio’s coach that year, too. Things worked out pretty well for him.
The Mavericks face a very simple proposition tonight when they host the Spurs in Game 5 of their frst round series: Win or stay home. After dropping the series opener last week, San Antonio has responded with three straight wins over Dallas, sparked in Sunday's Game 4 by second-year guard George Hill. NBA TV has the broadcast tonight from American Airlines Center with Dirk Nowitzki & Co. favored by five points.
George Hill is alive!
The Dallas Mavericks are on the brink of elimination in their best-of-seven series against their archrival San Antonio Spurs. Dallas won the opener SU and ATS and definitely appeared the better of the two teams in doing so. But the Spurs weren’t quite dead just yet. They won the next three games at 2-0-1 ATS, scoring two close victories at home and putting a stranglehold on this series.
If there was any question about how important Hill is to the Spurs, we got our answer Sunday when the sophomore guard hit five of his six trey attempts and scored 29 points with zero turnovers to lead San Antonio (-3) to a 92-89 victory. Hill was held scoreless in Game 1 and played just 18 minutes on a sore foot, but he rose from the ashes and gave the Spurs 45 minutes in each of the two games at the AT&T Center.
If you’re a Dallas supporter, I feel your pain. I was content to fade the Spurs with Hill injured and the Mavericks holding such a big advantage in the backcourt. However, Hill had other ideas. This is a major plot point for handicappers. Not only does Hill negate much of that backcourt advantage, he’s also considerably underrated in the marketplace. Here are four reasons why:
- Hill is only in his second year in the NBA and his first as a feature player, making 43 starts during the regular season and scoring 16.9 points per 40 minutes, up from 13.8 points as a rookie.
- Hill has taken over in the starting five for Tony Parker, a three-time All-Star and a very popular player whose injuries this year (strained hip flexor, broken hand) opened up a spot for Hill in the rotation.
- Hill is one of San Antonio’s many hidden gems taken late in the first round of the draft, going 26th overall in 2008 out of the IUPUI Jaguars program in the Summit League. It was thought at the time that Hill would go in the second round.
- Hill’s name is George Hill. Players with generic-sounding names tend to get overlooked; Andy Benoit at The New York Times NFL blog calls it the “Bob Smith Test.” Hill’s 14.70 PER this year was slightly better than highly touted rookie Brandon Jennings (14.58 PER) of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Compounding the problem is Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle’s decision to keep promising rookie guard Rodrigue Beaubois (18.59 PER) on the bench for virtually this entire series. When Carlisle has decided to use a three-guard set, he’s gone with Jose Juan Barea (12.84 PER), a competent scorer at 15.4 points per 40 minutes but a poor defender on a team that’s already starting Caron Butler (13.77 PER) at shooting guard.
Beaubois spent three years in the top league in France before coming to the NBA. He scored 40 points just one month ago against the Golden State Warriors. What more does a guy have to do to prove he’s ready?
Meanwhile, Hill has proven useful as a combo guard working in tandem with either Parker (16.49 PER) or Manu Ginobili (22.54 PER). That’s the kind of flexibility Jason Terry usually provides the Mavericks, but Terry is on the mend after he tweaked his ankle on Sunday and had to be taken to the dressing room in the second quarter. Terry returned and scored 13 points in the second half; he’s officially listed as questionable and didn’t practice Monday, but is expected to play.
The reversal of fortunes in the backcourt leaves Dallas needing to win Game 5 at home on Tuesday to extend this series. Betting odds opened with the Mavs getting five points and a total of 193.
Dallas was 3-1 SU and ATS versus San Antonio during the regular season; if the Spurs advance, they’ll be the first team since the 1997-98 Spurs to beat a first-round opponent despite losing the regular-season series. Gregg Popovich was San Antonio’s coach that year, too. Things worked out pretty well for him.