We love numbers at SpursDynasty.com and we tend toward the superstitious side, so its no coincidence that our conversations often revolve around numbers.
What numbers will matter most tonight?
4: points that the oddsmakers favor the Spurs by tonight. That’s pretty much a draw in my book, since home teams are usually favored by three or four as the default. In other words, the sports books expect a close game tonight and so do betters.
7: consecutive games won by the Spurs at home in the 2008 playoffs.
9: the margin by which the Spurs exceeded the Lakers in assists last game, 22-13. In game one, the Spurs lost the assists battle 16-18, and in game two played to a 20-20 draw. A better passing Spurs team beats the Lakers tonight.
13: consecutive games won by the Spurs at home going back to the 2007 playoffs.
22: points scored by Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol combined in game three. They combined for 27 and 30 in the first two games, both Lakers wins. If the Spurs can keep the Lakers big men off track, they’ll even the series at two tonight.
24.5: points averaged by Kobe in games one and two. He scored 30 in game three and the Lakers lost, ie more points for Kobe doesn’t necessarily bode well for the Lakers.
30: points scored by Manu Ginobili in game three. I listened to the Steve Mason show today and Steve and his Lakers fans seem to think that they’ll win if Manu doesn’t have another big game tonight. It would help if Manu scored 30, but its not absolutely necessary. The Spurs were up by 20 midway into the third quarter of game one and Manu had just 5. He finished that game with just 10 and the Spurs still only lost by 4.
36, 37: the ages of Brent Barry and Robert Horry, respectively. Barry had a big impact coming off the bench Sunday night, even though he had just 6 points and 4 assists. The Spurs were +11 when Barry and Horry were on the court. We’ll need more of the same out of them both tonight.
