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Sunday’s first ABC nationally televised game between Phoenix and San Antonio looks like a mismatch when you see the teams’ records, but it’s almost a must-win game for the Spurs despite the fact they have the best record in the NBA. Bet on this game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

San Antonio is in a tailspin, entering this one on a six-game losing streak. The Spurs have allowed averages of 50.3 percent shooting and 108.3 points — 10.3 more than their season mark — during the losing streak. The team’s once insurmountable lead for the West’s top seed is down to just 1.5 games over the red-hot Lakers. While injuries to guys like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili could be blamed for a few of those losses, there’s really no excuse for the last couple. Against Houston, San Antonio was up three and in possession of the ball with 49 seconds left in regulation. But the Spurs threw away the ball and yielded an easy layup that set up the eventual loss. It is San Antonio’s first six-game skid since April 10-20, 1997. Since the All-Star break the Spurs are just 11-9 with a point differential of + 1.1.

Phoenix has little to play for as the postseason won’t be in the Suns’ plans. Phoenix does enter off a 111-98 victory on Friday over the Clippers. That’s only notable because the Suns did it without star point guard Steve Nash. He sat due to flulike symptoms but should play in this one. However, look for his minutes to be diminished now that the Suns have nothing to play for. Phoenix got 26 points and 11 assists from the platoon of Aaron Brooks and Zabian Dowdell alternating full quarters in Nash’s place.

The Spurs have won both meetings this season — by a combined 10 points — and each team scored at least 110 points in each.

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It’s a possible playoff preview on Tuesday night in the Eastern Conference when the Boston Celtics host the Philadelphia 76ers, with Boston a 6-point favorite on Bodog’s NBA odds.

If the playoffs did start today, this would be a first-round matchup with Boston currently at No. 3 in the East and Philly at No. 6. The Celtics were atop the East just a few weeks ago but have slumped and now are three games behind the first-place Bulls and a half-game behind No. 2 Miami. Winning at least that No. 2 seed could be vital as it would mean home-court advantage in a likely conference semifinals matchup with the Heat. Boston dearly misses Kendrick Perkins and lost Shaquille O’Neal – again – in Sunday’s win over Detroit. Shaq suffered a right calf strain and won’t be back until this weekend at the earliest. Shaq had missed the previous 27 games with a sore right Achilles tendon and didn’t even make it six full minutes before getting hurt against Detroit.

Boston is expecting Nenad Krstic (bruised right knee) and Troy Murphy (sprained right ankle) are to return to the lineup after brief absences. Krstic has missed the last two games after leaving last Thursday’s game against the Spurs, while Murphy has missed six straight games following a right ankle sprain he suffered in practice on March 24.

Philadelphia won’t have Lou Williams, who is third on the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game. The guard strained his hamstring during a 93-87 overtime loss to Milwaukee on Saturday. The 76ers won the most recent matchup with Boston 89-86 on March 11 to avoid a four-game losing streak in the series. Boston has taken 12 of the last 15 meetings. The Sixers have dropped four of their last five games at Boston.

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Two division rivals will square off on the NBA betting board on Wednesday when the New York Knicks pay a visit to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The clubs have already met three times this season, with Philadelphia winning two of those contests. The Knicks won the last time they met, though, a 117-103 victory on Feb. 6. The Knicks are also 2-1 against the spread when facing the 76ers this season.

Amar'e Stoudemire has been an absolute beast against Philly this season. He’s averaging 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 1.6 steals in three games against the 76ers. Stoudemire obliterated the Sixers when they met in February, hitting 17 of his 21 field goal attempts and racking up 41 points. He added seven rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots.

New York will also have a new weapon against Philadelphia this time—Carmelo Anthony. Anthony was still wearing a Denver Nuggets uniform when the Knicks last took on Philly, and obviously he’ll add a new dynamic.

On Philadelphia’s side, look for Elton Brand to have a big game. The forward has been nearly as good as Stoudemire in this season series, racking up 27.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.0 blocked shots in three games. Brand even delivered in the 117-103 loss, going 10-for-14 for 33 points and 16 rebounds. He’s the only 76ers player averaging 20-plus points against New York this season.

As far as recent history, the series has been fairly close. Philadelphia leads 6-4 in the past 10 games, though the Knicks are 6-4 against the spread in that span. The total went OVER in their last meeting, but went UNDER in five games before that.

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The Chicago Bulls have a pretty firm grasp on first place in the Eastern Conference, but the Boston Celtics have one last chance to close the gap — the clubs meet in an NBA betting matchup this Thursday.

After a long middling streak, Boston (54-23, 36-39-2 ATS) is seemingly back on its feet. The Celtics have won three of their past four games, including back-to-back victories. Boston beat Philadelphia 99-82 on Tuesday, improving to 3-1 in its last four games against the spread.

The most positive sign is a suddenly resurgent offense. The Celtics were in a brutal scoring slump, but they’re averaging 102.3 points in their past three victories. The biggest reason for the turnaround is, without question, Rajon Rondo. Rondo has been accused of mailing in the season since his close friend Kendrick Perkins was shipped to Oklahoma City.

Whether it was injuries or the Perkins trade, Rondo was playing awful. Not anymore. He’s averaging 15.4 points and 10.8 assists over his past five games and doing a much better job attacking the basket. Rondo had 16 points and 13 assists in Tuesday’s win over Philly. The Celtics now have 11/2 odds of winning the NBA championship.

Chicago (57-20, 47-29-1 ATS) has quickly bounced back from a loss to the 76ers, winning its past four games. Chicago topped Phoenix 97-94 on Tuesday but failed to cover—dropping to 0-3 in its last three outings against the spread.

But injuries continue to plague the team. Joakim Noah has missed 34 games this season. He just missed three games with a sprained ankle but returned against the Suns; Noah was solid, racking up 12 points, four assists and four steals, but had just four rebounds (he’s averaging 10.9 per game on the season).

Carlos Boozer missed practice this week because he was feeling ill, but that didn’t stop him from playing against the Suns. He was solid, posting 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

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Of the three NBA games on Tuesday night, the ugly stepsister one is certainly Memphis at Portland (plus it’s the only one of the three not nationally televised), but it will certainly help shape what the Western Conference playoff matchups will be. The Blazers are 5.5-point favorites on Bodog’s NBA odds.

Right now Portland holds the No. 6 seed in the West. But Memphis is just a game back at No. 7 and New Orleans 1.5 games back for the No. 8 spot. The Blazers (47-33) control their own destiny, so if they win tonight they would be the No. 6 seed no matter what any other team does. A loss to the Grizzlies would put Memphis in control for No. 6, although the Blazers can finish no worse than seventh if they win either of their final two games. Portland cannot afford to be tied with New Orleans (46-35) because the Hornets won the season series this year. Memphis (46-34) can also get the No. 6 spot, but only if it wins tonight and does not tie with the Hornets. Pretty much no one wants the No. 7 seed because that means a likely matchup with the Lakers.

Portland has won four of five and was impressive in beating the Lakers on Friday behind another stellar game from LaMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers didn’t have center Marcus Camby because of a strained neck in that one but he should play tonight. Portland and Memphis have split two meetings this year, both at Memphis. The Grizzlies swept the Blazers at the Rose Garden last year.

Memphis has won six of its last seven games, including an blowout 111-89 victory over the Hornets on Sunday night. The Grizzlies have held their last 11 opponents to an average of 89.2 points per game. They are 23-3 this season when holding an opponent to 91 points or less.

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Grizzlies is a good team,compare with Blazers.

Most teams would fight tooth and nail to the end in an effort to get the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs. But most teams aren’t the veteran, four-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

And with that sad, the Spurs might again rest many of their key players in Wednesday’s regular-season finale at Phoenix despite the fact a San Antonio loss and a Chicago Bulls win at home over a bad New Jersey team would give Chicago the top spot in the NBA and potential home-court advantage in an NBA Finals matchup with San Antonio. Bet on Spurs-Suns with Bodog’s NBA odds.

Coach Gregg Popovich believes it’s more important to rest his veteran starters rather than push to the end for a matchup with Chicago that might not even happen – San Antonio already has the West locked up. Thus Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Antonio McDyess sat out Tuesday’s road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The loss also ruined any chance the Spurs had of matching the franchise record of 63 wins, set in 2005-06.

But it appears the Popovich will play his guys tonight in the desert as he wants them to have some rhythm for when the playoffs begin. Assuming both San Antonio and Chicago win (or both lose), then a coin flip would decide which team gets the No. 1 overall seed because all the tiebreakers are otherwise even.

The Suns have nothing to play for other than it being their final home game. It could also possibly be Steve Nash’s final game in Phoenix. A win to finish 40-42 would make the Suns one of four teams with seven consecutive 40-win seasons, along with Dallas, Denver and San Antonio. The Spurs have beaten Phoenix three times already this season, including a 114-97 rout just a few weeks ago that snapped the Spurs’ six-game losing streak.

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Two of the most storied franchises in basketball history will collide on the NBA betting board when the Boston Celtics face the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. Boston swept the first three games of the regular season series – they also played in the final game of the season, but both teams rested starters in anticipation of the playoffs.

Boston (56-26, 38-42-2 ATS) racked up over 50 wins, but it was a truly strange season for the Celtics. They went through numerous lulls, especially toward the end of the season. Trading away much-loved big man Kendrick Perkins seemed to create a schism, and the team hasn’t been quite right since then.

There are growing signs of frustration in the locker room, and the Celtics are particularly frustrated with their defense, which hasn’t lived up to its normally ferocious expectations. The offense has been just as bad, as point guard Rajon Rondo has mailed in the season over the past few weeks. He’s been noticeably worse than anyone since Perkins was dealt.

The talent is still there—on paper, few teams can match up with Rondo, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen—but something is missing, be it execution or desire. Either way, Boston must up its game several notches to advance.

The Knicks (42-40, 46-34-2 ATS) were hoping for a championship after acquiring Carmelo Anthony from Denver, but they promptly went into the tank. After a few weeks, though, the players gelled, and the Knicks finally got on a roll.

New York boasts two of the NBA’s best scorers in Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Stoudemire was slowed over the second half of the season thanks to over-usage, but he should be fine for at least the first round; he sat out games at the end of the regular season to rest his aching knees.

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The Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks were two of the most frustrating, inconsistent teams in NBA betting this year, and they’ll throw down in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Hawks won the regular-season series 3-1.

Orlando (52-30, 34-46-2 ATS) can certainly muck it up, as the club ranked among the Top 10 teams in both rebounding and defense. The offense is much more inconsistent, as a mid-season trade did nothing to improve the club’s roster. Jason Richardson is second on the team at about 14 points per game.

The leading scorer, of course, is Dwight Howard. Howard is the heart of the team at both ends of the floor, but he often lets his emotions get to him and hurts his team with his outbursts. The hulking center led the NBA in technical fouls this season and was suspended twice for his actions. Orlando certainly can’t afford to lose Howard for a game during the postseason.

Atlanta (44-38, 37-45 ATS) might be the most vanilla team in the NBA—at least among playoff teams. The Hawks win a few games here, lose a good handful there. They never really seemed “into” the season, which was evident in their April collapse. There’s simply no effort or will to win in Atlanta, and it’s hard to believe that will suddenly change in the playoffs.

Sub-par seasons from Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford killed Atlanta. Neither player lived up to expectations, with both playing wildly inconsistent and well below their previous numbers. Statistically, Josh Smith has been great for the Hawks, but there are rumors that he’s been a locker room cancer and has contributed to the unevenness of Atlanta’s season. Either way, we’re now 82 games into the season and Atlanta is still looking for a spark or identity.

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The NBA playoffs are just a day old, but already Bodog offers its players the prop option to bet on who the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player will be.

Really this is in a way a simple bet: Just identify who you think the NBA champion will be and take the best player and future Hall of Famer off that club. That’s pretty much how it always works. Only one player from a team that lost in the NBA Finals has won the MVP: The Lakers’ Jerry West in 1969. And only one rookie has won the award: the Lakers’ Magic Johnson is the youngest player and only rookie to be named the Finals MVP at the age of 20 in the 1980 NBA Finals. But there is no rookie this year on a playoff team who is a significant contributor, so throw that out.

While Kobe Bryant can tie Michael Jordan with his sixth NBA championship ring if the Lakers win the title this year to threepeat for the second time – just like Jordan’s Bulls did under Phil Jackson – Kobe would only be halfway to MJ’s record of six NBA Finals MVP awards if Bryant wins it for the third year in a row this season. And Kobe opened as the 7/2 favorite – no shock considering the Lakers are 11/4 favorites to win it all again.

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, the likely regular-season MVP, is next up at 5/1. It would be a bit unusual for Rose to win Finals MVP in this regard: Only five players under 6-foot-4 have captured that honor in NBA history: Tony Parker (2007), Chauncey Billups (’04), Isiah Thomas (’90), Joe Dumars (’89) and West (’69). Rose’s Bulls are only the third-favorites at 7/2 to win the title. LeBron James’ Heat are the second-favorites at 13/4 and James is the third-favorite on this prop at 11/2.

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After a shaky, uneven play in Game 1 the Miami Heat put their dominance on display in Game 2, blowing up the Philadelphia 76ers 94-73 as -9 favorites.

The Philly starting five was eaten alive by the Heat D. LeBron James scored 29 points, the total points posted by the 76ers starters combined, as they shot just 34 percent from the field. Dwyane Wade, nursing a migraine going into Game 2 had 14 while Chris Bosh was Miami’s second-leading scorer with 21 and 11 rebounds.

“We wanted to protect home court,” James said. “We did what we were supposed to, we looking forward to game 3 thursday night in Philly.”

Things are looking bleak for the 76ers, who pride themselves on hard work and balanced play. Unfortunately, they don’t have the size to pound the Heat inside or the speed to get by the Heat's stiff perimeter defense. On paper it appears to be a bad first-round matchup, and it’s starting to look that way on the hardwood.

It won't get any easier for the 76ers despite the next two games in Philly, the Heat are 5-0 against the 76ers this season.

“We know this team is going to have a lot of energy when we go back to Philly,” Bosh said. “We’re going to have to keep that in mind and get off to another great start.”

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Many NBA betting fans have made the Portland Trail Blazers a trendy pick to upset the Dallas Mavericks in their first-round playoff series. The Blazers aren’t off to a great start, though, after losing Game 1 89-81 in Dallas. Game 2 tips off Tuesday night.

It’s easy to see why Portland makes such a sexy darkhorse candidate. The Blazers have an All-Star calibre big man in LaMarcus Aldridge; a deep rotation featuring six different players averaging double figures in scoring; and they ranked seventh in defense this season.

It also helps that Portland drew Dallas in the first round. The Mavericks are no strangers to going home early. The Mavericks averaged 55 wins from 2006-2010, but they were bounced in the first round of the playoffs in three out of those four seasons (and knocked out in the second round of another).

But after an 89-81 loss in Game 1, do the Blazers really have any hopes of stealing the series? Absolutely, especially since two major advantages for Dallas in Game 1 won’t likely happen again.

First, the team got a virtuoso performance from Jason Kidd. The 38-year-old guard went ballistic on Saturday, burying six three-pointers and finishing with 24 points. Kidd shot just 36.1 percent from the field (34 percent from three-point land) and averaged 7.9 points during the regular season; it’s hard to believe he’s suddenly become a great player again overnight.

The Mavericks also likely won’t get another huge advantage at the free-throw line. Dallas ranked 27th in free-throw attempts this season—Portland was 28th—but the Mavs had a 29-to-13 advantage in Game 1, including an absurd 19-to-2 advantage in the fourth quarter.

The odds of Kidd continuing to light it up, or the Mavs getting another heavy advantage at the charity stripe, are slim-to-none. Even with that working in their favor, they managed to win by just seven points. The Blazers still have a great shot at winning the series, beginning with Game 2 on Tuesday night.

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The Los Angeles Lakers are gunning for a third straight championship, though “gunning” might be a bit strong. The Lakers were stunned in their NBA betting matchup by the New Orleans Hornets in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series; Game 2 tips off Wednesday night.

The Lakers fell 109-100 to the Hornets on Sunday. It was a shocking loss, as the Lakers were 11-point favorites and went 4-0 against New Orleans in the regular season (3-1 against the spread). The defeat calls into question Los Angeles’ motivation

Los Angeles—which has 10/3 odds to win the NBA Championship this season—is largely unchanged from a year ago, so in theory the Lakers should be set for a third consecutive championship. But perhaps there are just too many guys around who have “Been there, done that”—the Lakers suffered numerous mental lapses and losing streaks during the regular season, and they may not have the necessary “fire” after winning back-to-back titles. Being a two-time champion should have major advantages, but the Lakers could simply be worn down from the grind of the past two years.

Kobe Bryant certainly can’t be questioned, however. He did everything he could in Game 1, racking up 34 points, five assists and four rebounds. Unfortunately for L.A. fans, nobody else on the Lakers seemed too intent on helping Bryant out. Pau Gasol is Public Enemy No. 1 right now after a disastrous effort on Sunday. Gasol—who has been called soft by Kendrick Perkins and Amar’e Stoudemire this year—shot just 2-for-9 from the field. He finished with only eight points and six rebounds.

The Hornets, meanwhile, showed some real grit after hitting the postseason without David West. The forward led New Orleans in scoring and was second in rebounding, but he’s finished for the season with a knee injury.

That might not matter considering how well Chris Paul is playing. After an up-and-down regular season, Paul exploded in Game 1, racking up 33 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and four steals. Paul was positively devastating in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 points (Gasol, by contrast, had just two points in the fourth quarter).

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The Chicago Bulls have taken a 2-0 series lead on the Indiana Pacers, and NBA betting fans can point to one major reason why—MVP candidate Derrick Rose.

Derrick Rose was already one of the favorites to earn regular-season MVP honors but, two games into the postseason, he’s also at the top of the list for playoff MVP. Without his efforts, the Bulls could be staring at an 0-2 hole right now. Bet on the NBA playoffs with Bodog.

Chicago trailed 98-88 in the fourth quarter of Game 1, but Rose willed them to victory. He quarterbacked a 16-1 run over the last 3:38 of the game, which wound up a 104-99 win in Chicago’s favor. Rose scored seven points during that final flurry and, once he’d drawn the attention of every defender on the court, kicked a cross-court pass to Kyle Korver—who promptly buried a three-pointer to give Chicago its first lead of the game. Rose finished with 39 points, six assists, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

As if that wasn’t enough, Rose decided to go for an encore. The Bulls were tied heading into the fourth quarter, but another late push swung the game in Chicago’s favor. Rose scored eight points in the game’s final four minutes and finished with 36 points, eight rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals.

Stopping Rose has already proven next to impossible—and with an injury in the backcourt, the Pacers might have no hopes in Game 3 on Thursday night. Starting point guard Darren Collison went down with an ankle injury early in Game 2. He expects to play on Thursday, but he could be severely limited. Certainly, Pacers fans don’t want to see A.J. Price and T.J. Ford trying to match Rose offensively, much less try to stop him on defense.

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When the Western Conference playoff pairings were finalized, most people pointed to this matchup between third-seeded Dallas and sixth-seeded Portland as the most likely upset in either the East or the West in the postseason. Yet the Mavericks have looked better than any team in the West thus far in taking a 2-0 series lead into Portland tonight. The Blazers opened as 6-point favorites for Game 3 on Bodog’s NBA odds.

Dallas has played excellent defense in the first two games, holding the Blazers to just an average of 85 points per game. It’s the Mavs’ first 2-0 series lead in the playoffs since 2006. In the Game 2 101-89 Dallas win that really wasn’t ever in doubt, Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 33 points. He scored 18 in the fourth quarter of Game 1. Peja Stojakovic had his best game since becoming a Maverick in Game 2 by tying his career playoff best with five 3-pointers and had 21 points. Jason Kidd looks young again in this series – those few games off at the end of the regular season appear to have helped. Kidd’s nine 3-pointerss are the most in the playoffs. He's converting them at a 56.3 percent clip, up from his 29.8 percent in March and April. Kidd’s 21.0-point scoring average is nearly triple his season average of 7.9.

The Mavericks won’t be bothered by playing away from Dallas as the tied for the best road record in the NBA during the regular season at 28-13. However, Dallas was 0-2 in Portland this year. And the Mavericks have 16 of their 18 postseason games away from Dallas, a trend that started after they took a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA Finals. Portland was 30-11 at home this season. The Blazers need more from star LaMarcus Aldridge at crunch time. Aldridge has had a strong series, averaging 25.5 points and shooting 55.3 percent from the field. But he has just six field goal attempts in the two fourth quarters and has totaled nine points.

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Is there really any reason to think the Philadelphia 76ers can win a game in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Miami Heat? It wouldn’t seem so, considering the Sixers were swept by Miami in the regular season and haven’t put up much of a fight in the two playoff games so far. But perhaps a return tonight to Philadelphia will change things. However, Miami is a 4.5-point favorite on Bodog’s NBA odds.

Philly hung relatively close in Game 1 in South Florida but was blown off the court in Game 2, 94-73. LeBron James finished with 29 points and outscored the Sixers’ starting five by himself in the first half. Chris Bosh added 21 points and 11 rebounds. The 76ers were held to their second-lowest playoff scoring total in the last 56 years. The Philly starting five was outscored by a whopping 76-29 overall. Afterward Coach Doug Collins basically admitted his team doesn’t have a shot if the Heat are playing their best – and right now they are. Overall Miami has won 17 of its past 20 games.

The fact that tonight’s game in Philadelphia might not be a great thing. In several significant statistical measures during the regular season, the Heat were superior on the road. It seems like LeBron and Co. thrive in the role of villains. James shot 52.3 percent on the road, the first season he has ever made at least half his shots in road games. He scored 27.9 points per game away, 25.6 at home. The Heat have gone 7-1 on the road since March 5, with the only loss at Cleveland. The 76ers have won 25 of their past 35 at home.

The Sixers will need to be much better offensively. They have shot just 37.8 percent from the field in the two games. Take away their first quarter in Game 1, in which they made 14 of 23, and they are shooting just 48-for-141 (34 percent) over the last seven quarters.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder-Denver Nuggets Western Conference quarterfinal was supposed to be the most evenly-matched and entertaining series of any of the NBA’s first-round series. And maybe it still will be, but if Denver doesn’t win back home on Saturday night, this series is all but over. Bet on this game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

Game 1 was wildly entertaining and Denver might have stolen a win if not for a terrible non-call on an obviously goaltending by Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. But Game 2 was never in doubt. Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Russell Westbrook added 21 in a balanced attack as Oklahoma City jumped to a 26-point lead early in the second quarter and never led again by less than 10. Thanks largely to Serge Ibaka and Perkins, the Thunder outrebounded Denver 41-19 through three quarters. After making their first seven shots in Game 1, the Nuggets missed their first six in Game 2. And they had just five offensive rebounds compared to 17 for Oklahoma City. Including the last two regular-season meetings, the Thunder have beaten the Nuggets four times in the last 16 days.

Denver might get some help for this one in Arron Afflalo. He has missed the first two games with a hamstring injury but vows to play in Game 3. Afflalo, who averaged 12.6 points this season, is one of the Nuggets' better defensive players. He would help immensely on Westbrook. The Nuggets also need to get something from J.R. Smith. He has played a total of just 24 minutes despite Afflalo being out and is 4-for-14 from the field for 11 points. The Nuggets are 33-8 at home this season.

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The panic button has been put on hold temporarily by fans of the San Antonio Spurs thanks to the return of Manu Ginobili in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. The Spurs beat Memphis 93-87 to tie the series at one apiece heading into tonight’s Game 3 in Tennessee. Bet on this game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

Ginobili didn’t look 100 percent with that hyperextended right elbow and he played with a black-and-blue pad over the joint. But he was clearly the difference in Game 2, scoring a team-high 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds with four steals. Ginobili was just 5 of 13 from the field and an uncharacteristic 7 of 13 from the foul line but the emotional lift he provided can’t be quantified. In the six games that the Spurs and Grizzlies have faced off this year, San Antonio is plus-42 when Ginobili is on the court and minus-49 when he’s not. In Game 2, the Spurs were plus-16 when Manu was playing and minus-10 when he was on the bench resting.

The other key to Game 2 was the Spurs’ defense on Memphis big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. They combined for 49 points in the opener but were far less dominant in Game 2. Randolph scored 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting and Gasol had 12 points, making just 2 of 9. The Spurs took a collaborative approach as almost every San Antonio big player rotated against them. Overall the Grizzlies shot just 39.8 percent from the field and the Spurs scored 26 points off Memphis turnovers. Yet despite all that, the game was close right down to the end, which must embolden Memphis. Plus the Grizzlies were 2-0 at home in the regular season vs. San Antonio, averaging 110 points per game.

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