Posted on
6/7/2007 7:22:35 PM
NBA Betting - Spurs Will Reign Supreme Once Again
By Eric Williams
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While I think it’s a wonderful achievement for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise to reach the first NBA Finals in franchise history, I can’t give the Cavs a legitimate chance to win this series.
Despite beating the San Antonio Spurs twice during their two regular season matchups, I think the veteran Spurs will teach the young Cavaliers and James a thing or two before this series is over.
Interestingly enough, I would advise bettors to think long and hard about picking the Cavaliers to cover the spread in almost every game this series, as both teams play a style of basketball that doesn’t allow for being on either end of a large ‘blowout.’
Not only were the Spurs the best defensive team in the league during the regular season, they have three legitimate all-star players in Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker that can all be absolutely unstoppable on occasion.
Combine that with the fact that the Spurs also have arguably the game’s greatest late-shot maker ever in Robert ‘Big Shot Rob’ Horry and the league’s best perimeter defender in Bruce Bowen, not to mention another player that could start for most teams in the league in veteran Michael Finley. Beating the Spurs looks like a very daunting task.
Once again however, bettors should look for the Cavaliers to cover the spread. The Cavaliers have a league-best 12-4 record against the spread in the postseason and, although their two regular season wins may not translate into a series victory in the Finals, it is an excellent indicator of the types of games we should see in this series.
Cleveland beat San Antonio 88-81 on Nov. 3 before following that up with an 82-78 win on January 2.
The scores from both games should be similar to what hoops fans and bettors see during the course of the Finals.
As Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown recently told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, defense wins championships.
"You see the high-scoring teams and they look pretty during the regular season, and they have great records, but the formula to success is teams that defend usually are the teams that win,” Brown said. "I've believed that from Day 1."
NBA Free Pick: San Antonio Spurs in six games
09:05 PM EST
Cleveland Cavaliers Series +350
San Antonio Spurs Series -500
To Win Series:
NBA CHAMPION SERIES PRICE (Best of Seven 2-3-2)
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