3* - San Antonio (+4)
1* - San Antonio ML (+160)
The Pistons are in serious trouble and the Detroit players have to be thinking how they must win all three games at home if they are going to have a prayer of repeating as Champs. San Antonio has only lost 5 games on their own court all season and Detroit looked absolutely lost during most of Games One and Two. If the Pistons can?t win tonight they might as well not even show up for Game Four.
Having recognized how desperate a situation the Piston?s are in, I still do not think they can get it done tonight against a superior Spurs team. San Antonio?s Bowen has essentially handcuffed Hamilton in the first two games and has allowed Detroit?s leading scorer only 14 points in each game while Sheed has been held to a total of 17 points for the series. Conversely, San Antonio has consistently been able to drive to the basket for easy lay-ups through the paint or from the baseline as well as hit easy open shots from outside. Ginobli has blown up thus far in the Finals and Prince has had no success at all in defending him. Remember that this is the same Prince who handled Kobe so effectively in last year?s Finals, but this year he has not played well on either end as is demonstrated by his 5 for 19 shooting in the first two games with only a single basket in Sunday?s game.
Detroit is shooting for below 39 percent from the field in the first two games while San Antonio is hitting nearly 45 percent. In Game Two, no Pistons player scored more than the 15 points that McDyess had coming off the bench. These guys are looking rattled and I am not convinced that the home court will make enough of a difference to overcome numbers like those.
We have repeatedly been told how these are the two best defensive teams in the NBA and the Spurs have thus far lived up to the billing. The truth of the matter is that San Antonio had the best defensive record in the league while playing the teams from the Western Conference and Detroit polished their defensive game against significantly lesser competition in the East. The Pistons? record against Western Conference opponents this season is 19-13. One of those victories was against the Spurs but so were three of those losses. I have been wrong before, but I think Detroit will be lucky to get out of this one alive.
Playoff Record: 31-18 (+33.8 Units)
1* - San Antonio ML (+160)
The Pistons are in serious trouble and the Detroit players have to be thinking how they must win all three games at home if they are going to have a prayer of repeating as Champs. San Antonio has only lost 5 games on their own court all season and Detroit looked absolutely lost during most of Games One and Two. If the Pistons can?t win tonight they might as well not even show up for Game Four.
Having recognized how desperate a situation the Piston?s are in, I still do not think they can get it done tonight against a superior Spurs team. San Antonio?s Bowen has essentially handcuffed Hamilton in the first two games and has allowed Detroit?s leading scorer only 14 points in each game while Sheed has been held to a total of 17 points for the series. Conversely, San Antonio has consistently been able to drive to the basket for easy lay-ups through the paint or from the baseline as well as hit easy open shots from outside. Ginobli has blown up thus far in the Finals and Prince has had no success at all in defending him. Remember that this is the same Prince who handled Kobe so effectively in last year?s Finals, but this year he has not played well on either end as is demonstrated by his 5 for 19 shooting in the first two games with only a single basket in Sunday?s game.
Detroit is shooting for below 39 percent from the field in the first two games while San Antonio is hitting nearly 45 percent. In Game Two, no Pistons player scored more than the 15 points that McDyess had coming off the bench. These guys are looking rattled and I am not convinced that the home court will make enough of a difference to overcome numbers like those.
We have repeatedly been told how these are the two best defensive teams in the NBA and the Spurs have thus far lived up to the billing. The truth of the matter is that San Antonio had the best defensive record in the league while playing the teams from the Western Conference and Detroit polished their defensive game against significantly lesser competition in the East. The Pistons? record against Western Conference opponents this season is 19-13. One of those victories was against the Spurs but so were three of those losses. I have been wrong before, but I think Detroit will be lucky to get out of this one alive.
Playoff Record: 31-18 (+33.8 Units)
