best chance to beat Spurs, Utah or Dallas?

[mikejones99]

Devon Brown will play hard and Dallas is beat up. 64 65 or 66 wins is a great season.

[Dre_7]

Dallas has the better chance. Utah doesnt scare me. Sorry.

[mavsfan1000]

Is this a joke?

[polandprzem]

Who is Devon?


Hey come on. Utah is not that great. They are not scary even when they pump the balls like they are doing.

[TDMVPDPOY]

utah jazz are a joke, htf can they beat us in the playoffs.

[JamStone]

Memo is an all star caliber player. Deron Williams is playing better. Kirilenko on Parker and/or Ginobili and/or Duncan. Utah owns the Pistons. Too bad they won't make the playoffs ... at least they most likely won't make the playoffs.

[Solid D]

Dallas.

The Jazz can be pretty tough at home, any time. Their trouble will be scoring but Boozer is back so he adds some offense to the frontline.

They are playing a big lineup now with Giricek out with his achilles. AK47 is playing at guard....he has been for 3 weeks. Harpring may not be able to go at SF due to a sprained ankle so they may start Humphries again.

They don't shoot well from anywhere, including the arc but they rebound very well (4th) and they have the top rebound differential in the league. They also block shots (2nd) and play the passing lanes well.

The Spurs can beat them by getting them out of running their plays and causing them to play 1 on 1. Show hard on high screens, double and pressure the ball (they are a high TO team), push the tempo, and box out when the shot goes up. Those sorts of tactics will help against this team.

AK will defend Gino or Bruce. As long as AK is pulled out and away from helping, the less he can alter shots on penetrations.

[mikejones99]

Utah is much improved front line and healthier. Spurs are slight favorites at utah.

[ChumpDumper]

You are slightly high.

[mavsfan1000]

Utah sucks. San Antonio are heavy favorites.

[TDMVPDPOY]

utah - all it takes is boozer to pull a calf muscle and the jazz are lookin at gettin sweep

[mikejones99]

Vegas says Spurs by 4.5

[Dre_7]

This game is very big for Utah. They need to win. Spurs dont "need" to win this. This game could be very close. Win or lose today, I dont see Utah having a chance against SA in a seven game playoff series.

[1Parker1]

Utah is fighting for a playoff spot. And if I recall correctly, didn;t they beat us twice last season with buzzer beaters? :lol

Not that I'm saying Mavs won't be tough either.

[ambchang]

Utah in the first round would be a tough matchup. Their frontline is one of the strongest in the league, and they have a decent backcourt. I am not saying that the Utah is going to win the series, especially not with a rookie as a PG (who is not named Magic Johnson), but the series could be tough, perhaps go 6 games.

[101A]

...but the series could be tough, perhaps go 6 games.

In all of the Spurs championship runs; only a single series has gone more than 6 games - meaning you are making the Jazz as tough an opponent for the Spurs as ANY sans last season's Pistons. You give them too much credit. Remember 3 of the 1st 5 are played in SA;

Probably sweep, possibly 5; NO WAY 6.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

You are slightly high.


:lol

[smdanss]

Don't forget the Spurs will have a B to B game tomorrow. If we can win all the three games (Utah, Dallas, Sacramento) :elephant will be great.
:elephant :elephant :elephant

[BigVee]

The Utah game is one of those games the Spurs typically lose if they are not focused. They have a 3 game lead on Dallas. They know that even if they lose tonight AND tomorrow night, if the beat Dallas they still have a two game lead with 6 to go...4 at home, and Dallas has to pass them in the standings. This game will tell a lot about whether or not the Spurs are now ready for the playoffs.

[CubanMustGo]

The Utah game is one of those games the Spurs typically lose if they are not focused. They have a 3 game lead on Dallas. They know that even if they lose tonight AND tomorrow night, if the beat Dallas they still have a two game lead with 6 to go...4 at home, and Dallas has to pass them in the standings. This game will tell a lot about whether or not the Spurs are now ready for the playoffs.

But the Spurs generally do NOT lose the front end of a B2B. All Pop should have to do is whisper "Seattle" and that should be enough.

Beating Sacto on the back end is going to be difficult given how the Spurs have struggled in similar situations all year. They need the W tonight.

[boutons_]

"Beating Sacto on the back end"

Kings will also be on the back of B2B, and if they want to keep that 8th spot, they will play hard/fatiguing vs Mavs.

Same is true of all Spurs' remaining B2Bs.

[CubanMustGo]

"Beating Sacto on the back end"

Kings will also be on the back of B2B, and if they want to keep that 8th spot, they will play hard/fatiguing vs Mavs.


Good point. Also worth noting that Kings, after an 0-5 start in the second of B2Bs in Oct/Nov, have gone 6-6 including 2-2 last month.

[SpurYank]

We've lost to the Bobcats, Hornets, and can easily lose to the Jazz. The Jazz are better than these two other clubs, personnel-wise and potential. Right now, every team looks dangerous to me. We have to play our best from here on.

[boutons_]

"good" teams seem to be able, normally, to hit .500 or above on second of B2Bs.

Spurs are severely abnormal, head cases, this year in their horrible B2B record.

[BigVee]

We've lost to the Bobcats, Hornets, and can easily lose to the Jazz. The Jazz are better than these two other clubs, personnel-wise and potential. Right now, every team looks dangerous to me. We have to play our best from here on.

When was the Bobcat loss?