Tag: NBA title

Spurs ready themselves for Game three after routing Heat in Game two

The San Antonio Spurs will walk into the AT&T Center tonight knowing that they are only two games away from a fifth NBA Title and another humiliation of “the anointed one” LeBron James at the hands of the Spurs.

“My Cleveland team, we were very young, and we went up against a very experienced team, well-coached team. And they (the Spurs) took advantage of everything that we did.”

While the Heat “Big Three” of Wade, Bosch and James is a much more appealing than Llgauskas, Hughes and Gooden, the Wade and Bosch have done pretty much all they can to help secure a victory but  the “Anointed One” has not been on target.

“I’ll be better,” James said on Wednesday,  “I’ll be much better [Thursday] night.”  “So I’m putting all the pressure on my chest, on my shoulders to come through for our team. That’s the way it is.”

Game 4 begins at 8:00 Eastern  and tickets for the AT&T Center are still available.

Spurs rank 11th among shortest odds to title

The Spurs haven’t exactly captured the attention of Las Vegas bettors as they prepare for the upcoming season.

The latest odds from the website indicate the Spurs rank 11th among the NBA teams with the lowest odds for an NBA title. San Antonio’s odds are 30-to-1 for claiming its fifth title in team history this season.

Odds to win 2012 NBA Championship

  • Miami Heat 9/4
  • Los Angeles Lakers 9/2
  • Chicago Bulls 7/1
  • Oklahoma City Thunder 15/2
  • Dallas Mavericks 10/1
  • Boston Celtics 14/1
  • Los Angeles Clippers 15/1
  • New York Knicks 18/1
  • Memphis Grizzlies 25/1
  • Orlando Magic 25/1
  • San Antonio Spurs 30/1
  • Portland Trailblazers 35/1
  • Atlanta Hawks 40/1
  • New Jersey Nets 50/1
  • Denver Nuggets 65/1
  • Houston Rockets 75/1
  • Indiana Pacers 75/1
  • Phoenix Suns 75/1
  • Golden State Warriors 100/1
  • Milwaukee Bucks 100/1
  • New Orleans Hornets 100/1
  • Philadelphia 76ers 100/1
  • Utah Jazz 100/1
  • Charlotte Bobcats 150/1
  • Minnesota Timberwolves 150/1
  • Sacramento Kings 150/1
  • Washington Wizards 150/1
  • Cleveland Cavaliers 200/1
  • Detroit Pistons 200/1
  • Toronto Raptors 200/1

Interestingly, the Clippers were 40-to-1 and New Orleans was 75-to-1 before the Chris Paul trade was announced.

How about it Spurs Nation? Do you have confidence that a bet on the Spurs would bring back any money at the end of the season?

Spurs miss Lakers-Portland back-to-back among six lost lockout games

The Spurs will get a bit of a scheduling break after the NBA cancelled  the first two weeks of games through Nov. 14 because of the extension of the lockout.

Here’s a look at the games the Spurs will miss:

Nov. 2 – Milwaukee

Nov. 4 – Dallas

Nov. 7 – at Golden State

Nov. 9 – at Los Angeles Lakers

Nov. 10 – at Portland

Nov. 12 – New Orleans

On the surface, it appears that missing those six particular games won’t hurt the team. San Antonio will skip contests with four teams that made the playoffs, including a tough back-to-back that would have featured games at the Lakers and Portland on consecutive nights. That game would have been followed by a home game against improving New Orleans two nights later.

San Antonio’s six opponents had a combined record of 279-213 last season for a combined winning percentage of .567.

Spurs Nation will miss out on a chance to jeer Mark Cuban and Jason Terry during their first trip to the city after their championship banner would have been raised at the start of the season. I would imagine they will save up their catcalls for whenever their first scheduled trip to the city by the Mavericks finally materializes.   

Of course, there’s no indication how many games the team will be actually miss. The first six were announced Monday night were only a start and many more could be coming.

The Spurs thrived with a veteran team during the 1999 season that was abbreviated by a similar lockout, posting a 37-13 record and eventually claiming their first NBA title.

Considering the veteran core for their current team, missing a few games at the start shouldn’t necessarily a problem for them.

When he saw the games that he would be missing, I wonder if Gregg  Popovich secretly might have felt a little relieved.