There are some cliches I hate but they apply here. The better team plus points. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Blah, blah, blah.
The Heat are drawing support for their six straight home wins but let's not confuse the 76ers, Bulls and Clippers with quality teams. Nor should we grant too much credit for the Hawks, always up and down, or the Lakers, on cruise control, or the Warriors, who make us a lot of money by covering but almost never winning. That gets us clear back to the Bucks 9 games ago, but also the last quality team that came in here on a serious mission. The Bucks are also the only one of the lot that is playing anywhere near the Spurs level of performance right now. The Bucks popped the Heat for a 25 point win and cover and the Spurs are capable of the same thing. This is crunch time for the Spurs. They always get it together down the stretch run and heading into the playoffs. I doubt if Popovich, Duncan and Ginobili even have to discuss the plan anymore. It's all second nature and the more things change, the more they stay the same. George Hill has taken over at the point for Tony Parker and looks like a clone. The Spurs haven't missed a beat while Parker recovers. The Spurs currently hold the seventh seed in the West playoff picture, but are close to moving up, which they would like to do. The Heat share the sixth and seventh seed in the East with the Bobcats, and no one is confusing the East with the West. If you want to do that just consider the two eight seeds. Can you possibly compare Toronto and Portland or was that issue decided Sunday?
Numbers, for those that enjoy. On this given day, under tonight's circumstances, I make the Spurs 3.4 points better than the Heat and the Heat (per my formulas) regain only 1.1 with the HCA. The Spurs have advantages in current performance expectation of scoring, 9, margin, 9.3 and median 7.4. Too much to argue with.
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Key's Line & POD For Tuesday 3-16-10
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