With home court being the deciding factor
Makes sense. TOR has not been very good without Lowry. Even with Kawhi, they barely eeked out a win vs ORL, got destroyed another game and it took a career high from Kawhi to beat UTA.
SA is at home, playing well and unless Kawhi freaks out it’s hard to imagine TOR winning even though obviously it’s possible. But feels like a game Kawhi will have to get 30 in order to have a shot at winning and no team should know about stopping Kawhi more than SA.
Spurs should be favorites, Raptors are missing their 2nd best player and only playmaker..they've also been getting eaten up by bigs since Valenciunas went out, so Aldridge should feast..
Not to mention the Spurs have been an elite team at home..
Doesn't mean Spurs are going to win, but they're rightfully favored..
What crack are you smoking? Rudy is far from the best defensive player we can stick on Kawhi. His offense will be missed but GTFOH with that assertion. Besides that, it takes team D to beat his game.
Lol. You just busted out an 8 year old video of peak Rudy at his peak athleticism picking off rookie Kawhi to validate your point? Come on, brah.
As to whom defends Kawhi...not many can. That's why I said it would require team D. But Rudy certainly wouldn't have been Kawhi's prime defender. I'm sure Pop will run several defenders at him and double team him with players including White, Cunningham, Bertans, DeRozan, and Aldridge. Had Rudy been there, he would have been one too.
As for your dig on the Team D, they are a young and learning. But if you're trying to make a larger dig at Pops defensive schemes, then I pity you. He's only had top 3 defenses pretty much 75% of his tenure. Since December we've had the top 3 team defense. Rudy hasn't been a cog of that but he hasn't been a big lapse in it either.
Last edited by offset formation; 01-02-2019 at 09:43 PM.
even with 3 extra guys on the court, dont see how the spurs going to win
unless lma plays like a real big...
Yeah, 12. And you're the one talking about edge lords. And calling people autistic for pointing out an 8 year old debacle of a defense.
Newsflash, son, I don't have a clue what those are, lmao.
GTFOH pansy.
Get called out for a post. Check.
Put poster on ignore 2 posts later. Check.
Spurs by 20
From one troll to another, you're ing terrible.
You haven't been paying attention to how utterly mediocre the Raps have been on the road or how dominant the Spurs have been at home of late, have you?
If the Spurs aren't super up for this game, I don't know what to say.
Wright is arguably their best play maker and VanVleet and Siakam can also make plays.
Agree with the rest of your analysis and the bit about "if DeRozan doesn't try to take over the game".
The forward matchups are brutal though. It's going to have to be a Cunningham game and if it's close late, DeRozan will have to defend s bag so that Bertans can close.
LMA will be the deciding factor, as always. Needs to be extra aggressive. Who can Toronto throw at him?
Everyone talking like Rudy is out but isn't he just "questionable"? Could still play.
Rudy has a brace on his hand
lol @ thinking Ibaka can guard Aldridge when he's been Aldridge's since 2012
Dunno what's going on with Drew, but he's giving out the DAF-esque takes when it comes to LMA. Apparently, Kawhi's become god to some fans. Dude isn't the powerhouse Lebron is nor does he have the freakish height of Durant or Giannis. He's very good at what he does, so no one is going to lock him down, but they don't need to freak out and put combo-forward size on him either. The Raptors play big enough to where starting Poeltl makes sense. Run Forbes, White, DeRozan, Aldridge and Poeltl. Start DeRozan on Leonard, Forbes on Green, White on FVV, Jakob on Siakam and Aldridge on Ibaka. Make sure one of the bigs is near the paint any time Leonard has the ball, and if Kawhi ever turns his back on White, have Derrick dig. Tell Bryn never to leave Green. The Raps likely counter by bringing Danny inside like they did against GS. This is fine, because Green shooting twos is better for the Spurs than anything Leonard's going to do.
Most important thing is that the Spurs don't get into foul trouble. No swiping down, no erratic close-outs. Making sure Aldridge and DeRozan are able to play 36-plus minutes is key. They also don't want to supplement what should be an inefficient-shooting night from Toronto by giving them free throws.
I'm more worried about Pascal going off than I am Kawhi.
Some Trend Stats
Toronto
- Raptors are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Raptors are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight up win.
- Raptors are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Raptors are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Raptors are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
- Raptors are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win.
- Raptors are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Raptors are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Raptors are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 road games.
- Raptors are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
San Antonio
- Spurs are 6-0-1 ATS in their last 7 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Spurs are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
- Spurs are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Spurs are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Thursday games.
- Spurs are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win.
- Spurs are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Spurs are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
- Spurs are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win.
- Spurs are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.
- Spurs are 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 games overall.
- Spurs are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 vs. NBA Atlantic.
- Spurs are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 2 days rest.
- Spurs are 24-8 ATS in their last 32 home games.
- Spurs are 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Spurs are 18-7-1 ATS in their last 26 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Spurs are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 vs. Eastern Conference.
Head to Head
- Raptors are 1-5 ATS in the last 6 meetings in San Antonio.
- Raptors are 0-4 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
Spurs At Home last 10 plays 9win 1lost
Last matches: SAN ANTONIO SPURS 01.01.19 NBA 120 : 111 27.12.18 NBA 111 : 103 22.12.18 NBA 124 : 98 18.12.18 NBA 123 : 96 16.12.18 NBA 93 : 98 14.12.18 NBA 125 : 87 12.12.18 NBA 111 : 86 10.12.18 NBA 110 : 97 08.12.18 NBA 133 : 120 03.12.18 NBA 131 : 118
Toronto Away Last 5 Plays 1 win 4 lost
Last matches: TORONTO RAPTORS 29.12.18 NBA 116 : 87 27.12.18 NBA 104 : 106 23.12.18 NBA 126 : 101 17.12.18 NBA 95 : 86 15.12.18 NBA 128 : 122
Head to Head History Spurs has won last 9 plays at home with Toronto and has won 16 of 17 games at home
Head-to-head matches: SAN ANTONIO SPURS - TORONTO RAPTORS 24.10.17 NBA 101 : 97 04.01.17 NBA 110 : 82 03.04.16 NBA 102 : 95 11.03.15 NBA 117 : 107 24.12.13 NBA 112 : 99 27.12.12 NBA 100 : 80 20.01.11 NBA 104 : 95 10.11.09 NBA 131 : 124 21.12.08 NBA 107 : 97 29.12.07 NBA 73 : 83 27.02.07 NBA 107 : 91 24.12.05 NBA 95 : 90 03.03.05 NBA 92 : 86 18.12.03 NBA 73 : 70 02.11.02 NBA 91 : 72 13.12.01 NBA 108 : 95
Injures Report
Toronto
Kyle Lowry (back) is doubtful to play on Thursday in San Antonio.
Jonas Valanciunas (thumb) will miss at least another 3-4 weeks of action.
GM Min Pts Reb Ast Stl FGM FGA FG% FTM FTA FT% 3PTM 3PTA 3PT% Blk TO PPG RPG APG SPG TOPG BPG 30 563 384 216 29 13 149 259 .575 77 94 .819 9 30 .300 23 39 12.8 7.2 1.0 0.4 1.3 0.8
Spurs injures report
Gregg Popovich was not optimistic when asked of Rudy Gay's (sore left wrist) chances of suiting up for Thursday's game against the Raptors.Line Moves
My Local Book open odd 1.80 demical odd and drop to 1.75 and handicap from -1.5 drop to -2.5
GO SPURS GO
I also think throwing Cunningham to body Kawhi and tired him out is one of the way. One of Pop's favourite tactics let their star player go iso and tired him out.
Spurs by 20. Kawhi will be booed every time he touches the ball
So that's the reason why Pop keeps playing Cunn before
KL stole $18M from the Spurs, him, boo him.
I guess I’m not understanding why so many posters think the Spurs don’t have a chance at all. Our guys have beaten the Celtics, Clippers, Nuggets, Rockets, and Lakers x3. What is the big hang up about the thought that the spurs could win this? I personally believe based on recent play they’ll win handily. Especially if there’s no Lowry. I say Spurs by 12, suckas.
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