San Antonio Spurs (30 - 18) <font size="1">Road: 13-11 Last 10: 4-6</font> Utah Jazz (24 - 22) <font size="1">Home: 19-6 Last 10: 5-5</font> Previous Game Sacramento 96 @ San Antonio 91 Dallas 88 @ Utah 91 Team History Last team they played, San Antonio beat them 87-78 at the SBC Center. Duncan had a mediocre game with 16 and 10, but Ginobili was a torch, pulling 18, 7 and getting 3 steals. Kirilenko was widly ineffective with 10 points and 5 boards. Harpring led the team with 11 points. Probable Starters Spurs PG: Tony Parker SG: Manu Ginobili SF: Bruce Bowen PF: Tim Duncan C: Rasho Nesterovic Jazz PG: Carlos Arroyo SG: Deshawn Stevenson SF: Andrei Kirilenko PF: Michael Ruffin C: Greg Ostertag Key Matchup vs. Bruce Bowen: 6.9 PPG (.401 FG%), 3.30 RPG, 1.5 SPG Andrei Kirilenko: 16.5 PPG (.470 FG%), 8 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.58 SPG, 2.23 SPG Injuries <u>Utah Jazz</u> Matt Harpring Keon Clark Ben Handlogten Curtis Borchardt <u>San Antonio Spurs</u> Jason Hart Alex Garcia Sean Marks Keys to the Game: <u>San Antonio Spurs</u> <ul> [*]Keep Kirilenko and Ruffin off the glass [*]Contain Raja Bell and Andrei Kirilenko [*]Force Arroyo into tough, contested shots [*]Don't turn the ball over [/list] <u>Utah Jazz</u> <ul> [*]Contain Tim Duncan [*]Keep Charlie Ward and Hedo Turkoglu from getting open threes [*]Force Nesterovic to leave the paint on both ends [*]Clean the offensive glass and don't allow the Spurs second chance points [*]Make Duncan beat you with free throws [/list] Just a reminder... There's no Matt Harpring here now, so the leading scorer is gone. Last time, Kirilenko was ineffective, so the Jazz's other role players must step up. Crossover's Prediction Utah is a good team at home, but between Duncan and Nesterovic, they're really going to give Kirilenko some hell. They need to keep Ruffin from getting rebounds to give Utah another chance and buckets, and keep the crowd quieted since they're on the road. Ginobili will more than likely have his way against Stevenson, but Arroyo may prove a challenge to Parker. If Ginobili has more than ten points in the paint, Utah would be better off forfeiting. I'm calling the Spurs by 7.
San Antonio always seem to beat Utah (14 staright wins), which is why I'm going with San Antonio. Tim Duncan will just be to much for Utah to contain. Andrei would have to step up big for Utah to win, but he's got Bruce Bowen guarding him which really hurts the chances of that happening. I'm expecting Arroyo to paly very well, but still Spurs by 4. Oh and Crossover, Utah are on the road not at home for this game.
This was a pretty good game for Utah, they lost by 4(my prediction) to the defending champs on the road. So that would suggest Utah wins when theses two teams meet at the Delta Center. Arroyo was dissapointing to me, because I know he's a very capable PG, but Ostertag played very well.
