Spurs Rest Up While Heat and Pacers Go the Distance
The San Antonio Spurs are looking like a better bet to win the NBA Championship all the time. For most of this season it has been almost a foregone conclusion that the Miami Heat would win it all again this season. But the Heat face elimination in a Game Seven against the very tough and very physical Indiana Pacers on Monday. Even if they do survive that test, they will be physically tired and and hurt going into the Finals while the Spurs will have not had a game in 10 days by Thursday night.
That will be a clear advantage for the Spurs who quite honestly are playing better basketball than the Heat or the Pacers right now. They dispatched a very good Memphis Grizzlies in four games. Many thought Memphis had an great chance to win that series. But Tony Parker and Tim Duncan carried them to a sweep.
The scary part is that the Spurs are getting next to no production from Manu Ginobli and are still winning. What happens if he finds his game in time for the Finals?
San Antonio has been to the NBA Finals four times since 1999. They have won all of them. Going against the Heat while they try to win back-to-back titles will not phase them. They kept the Detroit Pistons from going back-to-back in 2005. Going up against Lebron James won’t bother them either. They swept James and the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the Finals in 2007. Should the Pacers win on Monday, that won’t hurt their feelings either. They will then gain the home court advantage.
Bovada has the Heat at 2/3, the Spurs at 8/5 and the Pacers at 15/2 to win the NBA Championship. Apparently they weren’t watching last night’s game when the Heat managed a measly 77 points while Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh went a combined 4 for 19 shooting. The Heat would be the last team we would bet on with these odds. In fact at 15/2 the Pacers look pretty attractive. But the real winner is the Spurs at 8/5. A $1200.00 wager would pocket a player $160.00. Right now, that looks like easy money.