Western Conference Second Round

Written by Red Coffman on May, 13th 2008 | 0 Comments

Hornets vs. Spurs Odds

Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, one of these great teams will have a chance to send the other one home come Thursday—and I’ll be watching. My guess is that New Orleans will be coming into San Antonio to oust the aging Spurs from the playoff picture, but don’t hold your breath, the Spurs will be looking to follow the momentum they’ve built over the last two games and go home with a chance to pull off the series upset. Either way, I’ll be watching.

New Orleans Hornets (1) vs. San Antonio Spurs (4)

(Series Tied at 2-2)

Game 6 Preview:
The Hornets and Spurs play in New Orleans on Tuesday Night—and while the Spurs will look to win their 3rd strait game in this series, the fact is, the Hornets have won by at least 18 points in both home games against San Antonio. These two have yet to play a close game (final score-wise) but I wouldn’t expect another blowout. With the series pivoting on this game, putting one team on the brink of elimination, you can expect defensive pressure and overall excitement to be up a few levels. Being a fan of the Hornets, I am sad to say that this will only benefit the Spurlings. One big thing that has me thinking the Hornets will be up 3-2 headed into Thursday’s Game 6: They’ve yet to lose at home in these playoffs, and to me, that is worth something.

Game 6 should be stellar, and unless this thing manages a Game 7, Thursday’s game will be one of the best games these playoffs have to offer. Game 6s are often better than Game 7s because there’s so much build up for that last game that it often disappoints. Game 6 will be one team trying to punch their ticket to the conference championship while another tries to scrap and claw their way to a sudden death game 7. That mix of emotions and pressure is awesome.

Regular Season Series:
03/12/08 SA 75 - NO 100 (Under 185)
02/23/08 NO 89 - SA 98 (Over 183.5)
01/26/08 NO 102 - SA 78 (Under 183.5)
11/09/07 SA 97 - NO 85 (Under 187)

Playoff Series Thus Far:
Gm. 1: NOH 101, SAS 82 (Push)
Gm. 2: NOH 102, SAS 84 (Over)
Gm. 3: SAS 110, NOH 99 (Over)
Gm. 4: SAS 100, NOH 80 (Under)

Series Review: The Hornets looked three steps ahead and about 10 years young and faster than the Spurs in Games 1 and 2. Chris Paul was trying to show why he should have been MVP and he made me a believer. The Hornets lead for what seemed like all 48 minutes of each contests and headed into San Antonio up 2 games with all the confidence in the world.

But, the Spurs fought back in Game 3, and while the game was close in the 4th, the Spurs pulled away late and finally got themselves in the win column. Game 4 was very disappointing if you’re a Hornets fan, as the youngsters just looked flat from the tip. San Antonio did it all over the court, out hustling, out maneuvering, and out muscling New Orleans as if they are the defending champs.

Oh, that’s right, they are. So, we head into Game 5 with both teams taking two decisive victories at home—as these playoffs have really shown a strong home court advantage.

Remaining Series Schedule:

Gm. 6: Thu., May 15: at San Antonio, TBD (ESPN)
Gm. 7*: Mon., May 19: at New Orleans, TBD (TNT)
*if necessary

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