NBA pick and roll: Monday's Game 7 plays

NBA pick and roll: Monday’s Game 7 plays   

 

By Covers.com staff
Mon, May 22, 2006  

 

Dallas at San Antonio – Spurs –3 ½

 

When the Spurs and the Pistons both pulled off road wins on Friday night to force Games 7’s at home, you got the feeling that for all the drama we’ve seen so far in the NBA playoffs, in the end, it’s going to be more of the same.

 

Detroit held up its end of the bargain on Sunday. Now it’s San Antonio’s turn.

 

There’s no stopping the Spurs at this point. They put their heads down and willed themselves to a 50-39 second half in Game 6 to comeback from a 5-point first half deficit to top the Mavs in Dallas. That was the nail in the coffin for the Mavs. The Spurs now ride their momentum home, where they’ve played just one Game 7 in the last decade, but its magnitude makes this one seem small by comparison.

 

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, who were huge in Friday`s Game 6, also led a fourth quarter charge in Game 7 of the 2005 NBA Finals against the Pistons, helping San Antonio win the fourth quarter 24-17 and the game 81-74 as 4-point favorites.

 

Clippers at Phoenix – Clippers +4

 

The Clippers were clearly the better basketball team – on any court – in Game 6, but all the emerging factors leading into Game 7 favor the Suns:

 

First off, there’s the long standing stat that home teams will always win a Game 7 on their home court. That`s come through 82 percent of the time in league history.

 

Second, the Suns, who looked sluggish in Game 6, will benefit from four days rest between the sixth and seventh games. Phoenix had previously played 12 straight games on alternative nights, many of them the hard fought variety in their typical high-tempo, push-the-pace style.

 

Phoenix’s short bench should also benefit with the return of forward Kurt Thomas, who is listed as questionable after missing the last 42 games with a stress fracture in his foot.

 

So why the Clips? It would be different if they had won all of their games at home, but they proved they could beat the Suns in Phoenix back in Game 2. They have also been the better basketball team the entire series, blowing out the Suns on two occasions – including Game 2’s 122-97 win in Phoenix as 4-point underdogs – and taking all three of their losses to the final minutes.

 

Overall, the Clippers have outscored the Suns by 27 points in this series. They deserve the win here tonight, and while the home crowd will pull the Suns along, the resolve the Clippers have shown in this series time and time again will keep them in the game until the last possession.