Geoff JohnsonThe San Antonio Spurs showed in game 1 that they might be too much to handle for the Utah Jazz; they will meet against on Wednesday night at 7 PM ET for the second game in the series with the home team as an 11.5 point favorite in the sports odds.
In game one, the point guard Tony Parker had a big night; the Jazz had no answer for him and allowed the French to score 28 points in the Spurs victory 106-91. “I think everybody knows what happened last year,” Parker said. “Everybody’s motivated this year, but we don’t even talk about it.”
This is the first playoffs appearance for the Jazz in 20 years with a coach no named Jerry Sloan. “The biggest thing we’re going to learn is the different ways to guard the pick and roll, and what worked and what didn’t,” Jazz guard Gordon Hayward said. “We can’t let them get to the paint as easily, because it’s kick out 3’s and dump down’s and whatever. So we have to do better at that.”
Tim Duncan added 17 points, and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, Stephen Jackson another 14 points and Manu Ginobili made stuff happen in the defensive side of the ball. “We needed this one. We played a pretty good game. It wasn’t brilliant,” said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who had seven points. “But it was steady and we kept fighting. It took us awhile, but we broke it in the fourth quarter.”
Consider the Spurs have been money against the spread this season as they are 32-9 ATS in their last 41 games. Take the Spurs to cover game two despite 11.5 points seems as big difference for a playoffs game.
