Rodeo Road Trip
Oakland,Ca – The San Antonio Spurs begin their annual "rodeo" road trip with some room atop the Southwest Division standings. They have a good chance to increase that margin considering the struggles of their next opponent.
The Spurs begin an eight-game road trip Monday when they visit the Golden State Warriors.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Spurs -4.5 point spread favorites for Wednesday’s game against the Warriors. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 64% of more than 194 bets for this game have been placed on the Spurs -4.5.
While the AT&T Center is taken over by a rodeo show, San Antonio (32-14) will travel to both coasts during this road trip that goes through Feb. 21. The Spurs began this trip in 2002-03 when the rodeo moved to the AT&T Center from the Freeman Coliseum, and they have traditionally done well during it, going 35-13 over the previous six seasons, including 6-3 in 2007-08.
"The guys said they’ve had some success, so there’s a little bit of pressure," said guard Roger Mason Jr., who is in his first season with San Antonio. "I want to be a part of a winning road trip."
The Spurs will face teams from both conferences during this trip, with five of the opponents currently below .500. They’ll also face Denver, Boston and Detroit before returning home on Feb. 24 to face Dallas.
"It’s not as if we’re doing anything differently," coach Gregg Popovich said of the stretch. "We don’t have a new offense or a new defense when we go on the road. We enjoy it because it gives us an opportunity to focus, but we don’t do anything different strategy wise."
The Spurs are 14-7 on the road this season, having won seven of their last nine road games.
San Antonio has also won seven of its last eight overall, including three straight. It’s coming off a 106-93 win over New Orleans on Saturday, which increased its lead in the division over the second-place Hornets to three games.
The Spurs shot 54.5 percent and had six players score in double figures, led by 25 points from Tony Parker, who was 12-of-18 from the field, and 22 by Manu Ginobili.
Parker is averaging 25.0 points and shooting 57.9 percent in his last three games. He missed eight games of last season’s rodeo road trip because of ankle problems.
The Warriors probably are wishing he would miss this one as well. Parker has averaged 25.4 points and 7.5 assists in his last eight visits to Oracle Arena and he scored 17 points and added eight assists in 20 minutes when the Spurs blew out the Warriors 123-88 on Dec. 6 in San Antonio.
San Antonio has won 12 of the last 15 meetings, but has dropped three of the last four at Oracle Arena.
Golden State (15-33), though, has lost four of six and 10 of 15. The Warriors are coming off a 110-93 loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Corey Maggette scored 17 points and Stephen Jackson added 16, but the Warriors failed to reach 100 points for a third straight game after doing so in 14 straight. Golden State is 2-11 this season when it fails to score 100 points, and averages 106.4 – the second-highest in the NBA.
Jamal Crawford said that the team is adjusting to the returns of several players. Monta Ellis played in his fifth game of the season Saturday while Maggette and Jackson have also missed time.
"We’re having to adjust on the fly since we’re just getting some guys back into action," Crawford said. "Sometimes it looks OK and other nights it doesn’t."
After finishing a three-game road trip Saturday, the Warriors play seven of their next eight at home. They are 10-11 at home this season.
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Posted: 2/2/09 2:20AM ET