Heat too hot for Spurs but a tense nail-biter is expected
Published:After 82 regular season games, three intense post-season series and six gruelling head-to-head NBA Finals battles it all comes down to this.
It’s Game 7 and the San Antonio Spurs travel to the Miami Heat in a massive winner-takes-all showdown.
Conscientious students of form, trends and statistics will already know that convincing arguments can be made for both sides in this thrilling Championship decider
San Antonio boast a perfect 4-0 record in NBA Finals, including three 21st century successes (2003, 2005 and 2007). Incredibly, their ‘Big Three’ of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili have all participated in those three Finals.
The experienced Texans have seen it all before and won’t be fazed by the situation as evidenced by their win in the series opener, which took place in Florida.
However, no road team has won a Championship Game 7 since 1978. In-fact, home teams are 14-3 in the entire history of NBA finals deciders which, when added to Miami’s incredible regular season record of 37-4 at the AmericanAirlines Arena, further emphasises the task ahead of the Spurs.
The key factor could be LeBron James who, despite facing constant criticism about his performance in the clutch, led his side back from certain elimination in the closing seconds of Game 6 and averages 33.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in Game 7s.
Even so, the price of 10/27 available on the Heat is too short in what should be a finely balanced clash. So, the Spurs at a handicap of +6, which would’ve been a winner in the previous game, is the way forward at 10/11.
Despite the points per game in this series averaging 194.5, the Over/Under market is set at a tempting 189.5. With all the pressure and hype coming to a head though, expect a tense mistake-ridden-affair, so below the line at 10/11 makes sense.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
