June 13 HOME - SPORTS NEWS - SPECIAL EDITION PART 6
NBA PLAYOFFS SPORT NEWS & MLB NEWS
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Free NBA PLAYOFF Picks- (covers.com): spurs can close in game 5. The San Antonio Spurs are a game away from advancing to the NBA Finals and opened as 7 1/2-point favorites to make it happen at home on Wednesday night. They just beat the Utah Jazz 91-79 in Game 4 as a 2-point road favorite. Monday’s was a notable line in that the Spurs lost 109-83 as a 2-point road underdog just two days earlier. Now they return to San Antonio as a slightly heavier favorite than they were when they opened the series at home. There are a variety of reasons why the Jazz aren’t being counted on to rebound from the Game 4 loss. For starters, Utah has 18 consecutive straight up (SU) losses in San Antonio. The Jazz and Spurs have met at the AT&T Center four times in 2006-07 and the Jazz are 0-4 SU and 0-4 against the spread (ATS) as well.There’s also the demoralizing nature of Monday’s loss in Salt Lake City. The Jazz lost their cool in Game 4, with longtime head coach Jerry Sloan and three-time NBA champ Derek Fisher booted in the fourth quarter after each picked up a pair of technical fouls.The biggest reason for the hefty spread for the home team on Wednesday, however, might be the killer instinct that San Antonio has developed during the Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich era. As soon as they’ve a chance to eliminate an opponent, the Spurs end things more often than not.Since Duncan and Popovich joined forces in 1997, the Spurs are 14-6 SU and 12-8 ATS in their first crack at eliminating a playoff opponent (immediately after jumping to a 3-something scenario in a seven-game series or 2-something one in a five-game series). The other big pieces to the San Antonio puzzle, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen, were all in place by the 2002-03 campaign. The Spurs are 9-3 SU and 7-5 ATS since that season in games in which they’ve first had an opportunity to close a playoff series.The 2007 postseason further displays the Spurs’ ability to end things on their own terms. They beat the Denver Nuggets by 15 points as a 7 ½-point favorite to put an end to the opening round in its fifth game. They then dismissed the Phoenix Suns in Round 2 by covering the spread in Game 6 as a 3-point favorite.Both of those clinchers took place in San Antonio, the site for Wednesday’s Game 5 with the Jazz.The worst news for Utah is that even if they pull off one upset, they’re unlikely to do it again. As noted above, San Antonio lost six times when it had its first shot at eliminating a team in the playoffs since 1998. The Spurs went 6-0 SU and ATS in the games immediately following those six losses.
NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): nba playoff teams dominating at home.Home seems to breed success for all four remaining NBA teams playing in the conference finals. With four games gone in the Western Conference finals and three games played in the East, it's plain to see a pattern emerging. In the Utah Jazz-San Antonio Spurs series the home team has won all but one game, Monday night’s 91-79 Spurs victory in Salt Lake City. The home team has also covered the spread in three out of four of those games. In the Western Conference finals all three games have been home wins, but the Detroit Pistons have managed to keep the scores tight on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers, leading to the away team covering in two of the three contests. So how important is home-court advantage to betting on the NBA playoffs? One lines manager at Betcris.com says it's something you shouldn’t ignore."Home advantage is definitely important, more so than the regular season," he says. "I can’t say it’s worth a point, but it’s certainly an important factor when we set our lines for these series.""These two series in particular have teams who are dominant at their home court and, except for San Antonio’s win on Monday night, every game so far has gone as expected – a home win."All four teams involved in the conference finals have excellent records at their home court. In the regular season Utah posted a 31-10 record at the Delta Center, compared with 20-21 on the road. That form carried over to the playoffs with the Jazz posting a 7-1 home record so far this postseason. The trend continues for all four conference finalists, San Antonio is 6-2 at home in the playoffs, while Cleveland and Detroit are 4-2 and 6-1 respectively. Yet, because the conference finals are played between teams who've faced each other regularly during the regular season, home-court advantage may not be worth as much now. "The home court advantage tends to get smaller as the conference playoffs go on when we break them down because of a couple of factors," says Covers Expert Dave Malinsky."The better (a) team is, the more likely they can hold up to the pressure of playing on the road. Also, there becomes a real familiarity level. Not only have the teams played on these courts multiple times during the regular season, but as each playoff series goes on they become accustomed to all of the surroundings." In fact, it could be just the NBA Finals – and not the preceding playoff series – where the home-court advantage really becomes a factor. "By championship time we are dealing with visiting teams that should have the poise to handle tough environments well. But the court that they are playing on still requires some adjustment - since they will have only been there once during the regular season," added Malinsky. "So the court is worth just a little more in the NBA Finals than in the conference championship round."NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): coaches angered at jazz fans.If there is a Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, security is likely to be tighter.Angry Utah fans threw debris onto the court late in the San Antonio Spurs' 91-79 win Monday night in Game 4, and the shower continued after the buzzer - even after repeated pleas over the public address system to not throw anything.Both San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich and Utah coach Jerry Sloan were still unhappy Tuesday about the ugly scene.''It's unfortunate because it's always a few people that create a poor impression. It didn't reflect well on Salt Lake City, that's for sure,'' Popovich said in San Antonio, where the Spurs will try to wrap up the series Wednesday in Game 5. ''But on balance, we all know that there are idiots in every town that can act like that and unfortunately we saw some of that.''Oddsmakers have listed the Spurs as 7 1/2-point favorites and the total is set at 188 1/2.There were no injuries, although San Antonio forward Bruce Bowen said he was a little alarmed to see a container of lip balm coming at him.Sloan wasn't around to see the ending, but did hear several rounds of the repeated chants about the officiating. He was ejected with 2:34 left after getting his second technical foul, prompting even more anger by the home fans.''I still think that's out of place for basketball, but I can't control that,'' Sloan said. ''I just have an opinion.''
NBA PLAYOFFS- (covers.com): updated series prices.Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons
Cavaliers +350
Pistons -500
NBA PLAYOFFS- (covers.com): series prices to win nba championship.San Antonio Spurs -350Detroit Pistons +220Cleveland Cavaliers +900Utah Jazz +4000
NBA PLAYOFFS- (covers.com): nba playoff passages.
In turning a 5* Under play in San Antonio Spurs - Utah Jazz Game 4 on Monday we called for a “Playoff Game” to finally take place in that series. And for three quarters we saw just that – intense half-court basketball, with both defenses stepping up. Then it all deteriorated into an ugly ending that may unfortunately overshadow a nice postseason run by the Jazz.When it came time to step up and get completely back in the series, the Jazz tripped. They were only down 67-66 with 9:41 to play, and off of the memories of Saturday’s brilliant fourth quarter run in front of a fanatical home crowd, the door appeared to be wide open for them. The Spurs were not playing all that well, and certainly appeared vulnerable. But it did not happen.In those final 10 minutes of play it was a Utah meltdown, with five turnovers and a parade of fouls, including several technicals, and they did not maintain their poise. As the final seconds ticked away Jerry Sloan and Derek Fisher were already in the locker room, courtesy of the officiating crew. If not for a late unguarded dunk by Paul Millsap they would have only had 11 points in that key stretch, and the series, in essence is over.Naturally there was a lot of talk about the officiating afterwards. And while a couple of the technicals were the result of quick triggers, the bottom line is that the Spurs were more aggressive in the fourth quarter, particularly Manu Ginobili. When Ginobili has gone hard to the basket Utah has not had a counter, and he nearly made as many free throws (12), as the Jazz did as a team (14). Ginobili’s fourth-quarter passion eased the way for a pedestrian showing by the usually precise Spurs, who made only 40.6 percent of their shots, and had only 11 assists; just six of those coming from the starting lineup.Once again Tim Duncan did not react well to the Jazz double teams, leaving Salt Lake City with a combined 13 turnovers versus only four assists through the two games. But his defensive presence was a steady factor. And in truth it was not easy grading anyone else all that well – Bruce Bowen was not effective in guarding Deron Williams, who had 27 points and 10 assists in 38 minutes; and Tony Parker was an awful 6-19 from the field with only two assists. But Fabricio Oberto has proven to be as effective as Mehmet Okur, and the Jazz have a hard time winning when they can not beat the Spurs at their weakest spot on the floor.Now the big question is whether or not Utah can recover some lost confidence and play with poise in the return to San Antonio. The one-day turnaround does not allow much time to take
a deep breath, which they might need desperately at this point. Outside of Williams and Carlos Boozer it was another collective no-show from the remaining parts, with no one else reaching double figures, and the ball movement that highlighted their best playoff moments never materialized – beyong the assists by Williams, Fisher had two and no one else more than one.
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