NBA - San Antonio Spurs v Los Angeles Lakers

25 May 2008

Preview By Tipster ElCapitan

Handicap -2.5 : +2.5

To begin with and in order NOT to confuse anybody my pick is for Half Time!

Again my Pick is for Half Time!

Now that we have made this clear let me outline why I think this bet bears great Value!

What we have seen so far in this series?

Game 1: Surging Spurs come on the court strong and confident up to the 34th minute where they reach a game lead of 20 points! On the 34th minute they have not one but all four of their tires flat! What a disappointment? The Lakers outscored them 44-20 in the last 14 minutes with the Spurs shooting on really low averages.

Game 2: The Spurs pick the game up from where they left it on game 1 and the Lakers with just descent performance destroyed them 101-71.

What do I expect for game 3?

I expect the Spurs to come on the court strong, at least in the first half, as always and close the first half with a 6-8 lead.

However, letâ€™s illustrate the parameters of the prospective game based on what we have seen so far by both teams.

The second game defeat has certainly wounded the Spursâ€™ ego and that is a great factor according to my opinion for the Spurs to chase a victory that will boost their confidence for the remaining of the series.

This is definitely a MUST win game for the Spurs as no other team in the entire history of the NBA has ever recovered while being 3-0 down.

The Spurs is undisputedly the best and most experienced team of the past decade in the NBA and they recently proved it to us all in the 7th game against the second seeded New Orlean Hornets. The Hornets being a stronger, faster, and more athletic team in every respect still succumbed to the factors experience and the spirit of the winner that these Spurs posses.

It is extremely unlikely to see Ginobili or Parker have such a bad game at home as they both did in game 2. I see them both scoring over 20 points.

The Lakers is a quality team too with great players such Bryant, Odom, Gasol, and the highly experienced Fisher and honestly have really good chances (maybe the best of all four contestants) bringing the championship back to LA again but I do not think they have good chances for Sunday nightâ€™s game at San Antonio.

Why I feel confident that the Spurs will cover the spread in half time over the full time?

I have a couple good reasons believing that and the first is that I expect the Spurs to come out very strong in order to prove who really the Boss is when the game takes place at the AT&T Arena and the second is that I am still a little concerned with their often inconsistent 3rd quarters performances that could make them loose Sunday nightâ€™s game. This last one would be an upset and has low chances to happen but NBA is where amazing happens :)