Sport: NBAPick Selection: San Antonio
At 8:35 pm, our selection is on the San Antonio Spurs, who play with revenge from a 15-point loss at Washington earlier this season. But, since 2000, the Spurs are a terrific 18-1 ATS (with the only loss coming by a half-point) when playing with same-season revenge, provided San Antonio is off a win, and not favored by 12+ points, and its foe is off a loss. Last night, Washington lost 105-103 at Houston, while the Spurs had Friday off following a sweep of their games in Los Angeles vs. the Clippers and Lakers. This year, the Spurs' bugaboo has been playing without rest. When San Antone played the previous night, the Spurs are a poor 5-9 straight-up and 4-10 ATS. But when the Spurs play with one day of rest, their SU record moves to 37-7; and with two or more days' of rest, their record is 13-0 SU (the only undefeated team in the league in that situation). Clearly, the veteran Spurs need a bit of rest to be at their best and that bodes well for them in the playoffs since there won't be any games played on consecutive nights. This will be an especially difficult task for the Wizards, since their two key players logged heavy minutes last night. Antawn Jamison played 45 of the 48 minutes, and Gilbert Arenas also played 45 minutes. Jamison and Arenas accounted for over half of Washington's offense, and it's possible the Wizards will once again be without 7-footer Brendan Haywood, who missed the last 2 games with lower back pain. Haywood's absence will open up the lane for the Spurs' penetrating guards, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, and also work to benefit the Spurs' front line of Duncan, Mohammed, and Horry. Washington also has a thin bench, with the only quality player being a former Spur, Antonio Daniels. San Antonio's bench, in contrast, is quite deep with Finley, Van Exel, Barry, Nesterovic and Horry. Look for the Spurs to avenge their 110-95 loss earlier this season. Lay the points. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.
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