Spurs Forecast: March 1
The Spurs had an up and down week as they took care of their two toughest opponents at home but failed to escape Houston with a win. The Spurs bounced back yesterday and got solid contributions from several players including a rarity from Richard Jefferson. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. While this week is only comprised of three games and different opponents, this week has huge implications for the playoffs as each of these games will influence the Spurs’ standing within the Southwest Division.
Monday, March 1, 2010 7:00 PM @ New Orleans Hornets (31-28)
Friday, March 5, 2010 8:30 PM vs. New Orleans Hornets (31-28)
I don’t typically do this, but at the same time too, you usually don’t have back-to-back games against the same opponent but the Spurs do and so I figure, I’ve got the green light to mash these two forecasts together. The Hornets have held their own since CP3 went down going 6-8 after last night’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Notable wins include victories over Boston, Orlando, and they just about pulled off a comeback last night against the Mavericks. With Paul out, rookie Darren Collison has assumed the point guard reigns and has filled in better than most would have expected outside of the Hornets circle. Collison and fellow rookie Marcus Thornton have provided a 1-2 punch of youthful energy that has effectively filled as much of the void as possible left by Paul’s absence from the line-up. I expect that Timmy will be able to hold David West at bay on Friday unlike the Magic were able to do last week when they saw West go off for 40 against them. The contributions outside the two rookies and West are wildly inconsistent for the most part. If George Hill can smother one of the rookie guards and a healthy Tony Parker can match the other point-for-point, the Spurs should be in good shape. My only concern would be for tonight’s game. Popovich claims that he plans to sit Duncan on the back-ends for the remainder of the season. If this is indeed the case, the Spurs will have to really tighten the screws and get some solid contributions not only to make for the lost offense but more importantly to try and contain David West tonight.
Saturday, March 6, 2010 7:00 PM @ Memphis Grizzlies (30-29)
The Spurs cap their week off with another back-to-back on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies. This is going to be an extremely difficult game if Duncan does not play. The Grizzlies are the number team in the league in offensive rebounds and consequently are among the tops in second chance points. This is a young determined team, much like the Oklahoma City Thunder. What the Grizzlies lack is a go-to elite scorer like Kevin Durant. Anyone of their top five can come out and put up 25 on any given night but they don’t have a clear cut player that you know is getting the rock when it’s crunch time. Assuming that Duncan will sit this one out, this game will be a good litmus test for the other bigs to step up collectively and try to control the Marc Gasol/Zach Randolph tandem that has proven to be quite potent this season.
Prediction: (2-1)
The Spurs will win both games against New Orleans but will lose at Memphis without Tim Duncan. It’s going to be difficult no doubt for the Spurs to remain relevant if Duncan is going to be out each game on the back-end of their remaining back-to-backs. Excluding the back-to-backs this week, the Spurs have six more pairs of games this season. Should the Spurs start to slip in the standings, it will be interesting to see if Pop sticks to his plan or changes course in order to remain competitive.
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