Orlando vs. San Antonio Preview
SAN ANTONIO, TX – The San Antonio Spurs wanted to avoid the kind of uneven beginning that contributed to their early ouster from the playoffs last season. They’ve certainly done that with the best start in franchise history that includes a 10-game winning streak.
The Spurs look to match their longest run in almost three years when they take on the surging Orlando Magic in a matchup of conference leaders Monday night.
The Spurs (11-1) beat Cleveland 116-92 on Saturday, as Tony Parker scored 19 points to lead six San Antonio players in double figures. It was the team’s most lopsided victory of the season.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGlobal.com have made the Spurs -4 point spread favorites for Monday’s game against the Magic. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 84% of more than 124 bets for this game have been placed on the Magic +4.
Matchups say the Magic are 4-8 ATS this season, while the Spurs are 8-3.
“Great run for us,” forward Tim Duncan said. “It’s a good start for us. There’s going to be some ups and downs this season, but this team is built on what we did last year.”
San Antonio has clearly been determined to avert a repeat of last season’s 6-6 start, which forced the Spurs to battle down the stretch just to end up with the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference. They defeated Dallas in the first round but were swept by Phoenix after that.
After San Antonio played Friday night in Utah, Duncan was limited to 17 minutes and had eight points and five assists against the Cavaliers. That allowed rookie big man Tiago Splitter to step up, and he delivered with 18 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes.
He and Duncan will likely share the defensive responsibility against Orlando’s Dwight Howard, who averaged just 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds against the Spurs last season.
Despite its aging core, San Antonio is second in the NBA with 107.8 points per game. Last season they averaged 101.4.
A rejuvenated Parker has been a big reason for the jump. After being limited to 56 games last season due to injuries, he’s averaging 19.1 points and 7.7 assists in 2010-11. He scored at least 20 points in five straight games before going 7 of 11 from the field in 28 minutes Saturday.
The Spurs, seeking their longest win streak since taking 11 straight from Feb. 11-March 6, 2008, will be facing a Magic team that has limited opponents to a league-low 90.3 points a game and given up 100 or more only twice.
Orlando (9-3) is coming off a 90-86 road win over Indiana on Saturday, its fourth consecutive victory. The Magic limited the Pacers to 34 points in the second half and 39.3 percent shooting overall, allowing Orlando to overcome the fact that it was held to 91 points or fewer for the third time during the win streak.
“We have a lot of grind-it-out wins,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We’re not scoring a lot offensively. On the positive side, towards the end of the season, come playoff time, we’ve got to learn to win those games.”
Howard had 25 points and 12 rebounds and Rashard Lewis added 21 points. Vince Carter, however, was held to less than 10 points for the second time this season, finishing with eight on 3-of-12 shooting. He’s averaging 8.8 points on the road compared to 17.3 at home.
The Magic have won three in a row away from Orlando.
“We’ve been a pretty good road team over the years since I’ve been here, especially since Stan’s been here,” said point guard Jameer Nelson, who converted a go-ahead three-point play with 33 seconds left. “It’s hard to go on the road because you don’t have the energy coming from your fans. It’s good to win games with your defense and your intensity.”
The Magic, though, lost 112-100 at San Antonio on April 2 to fall to 4-18 all-time on the road in the series. Manu Ginobili had 43 points, six rebounds and five assists in that contest.
Orlando beat the Spurs 110-84 at home March 17.
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