2013 NBA Finals, Game 2:
San Antonio Spurs @ Miami Heat – Sunday, June 9
In the realm of online sports betting, this game will be a very hard one to pick, at least when compared to other games in this series. When looking at pay per head sites, you can make a fundamental determination about this contest that can shape your betting play. Examining BSNsportsblog.com reviews during an NBA season will not give you much to go on in this game or in this series, because San Antonio and Miami did not field their normal starting fives in their two regular season matchups. When the Spurs visited the Heat in late November, they didn’t play their starters because coach Gregg Popovich felt his guys needed to rest in advance of a key conference game against Memphis two days later.
When the Heat traveled to San Antonio at the end of March, they didn’t play LeBron James or Dwyane Wade because Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra felt his stars needed to rest in advance of the playoffs, especially since the Heat had locked up home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs and in the Eastern Conference in particular. These teams don’t have a true scouting report on each other. It’s important to realize that Miami has made roster changes since these teams last met as full squads in 2012. Miami added Ray Allen and Chris Andersen, altering the way it plays. San Antonio’s starting five has not played a full game against the Heat’s normal complement of players.
When you make a betting play at an online sportsbook, you need to be able to frame an event in a larger context, and the context here is that after Game 1, we’ll know more about the matchups in this series, and how the chess match between Popovich and Spoelstra will take shape.
Yes, it’s true that San Antonio’s older roster – especially its aging trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili – got a week and a half of rest before the Finals began on June 6. They will have two more days of rest before Game 2 on Sunday. However, the thing to keep in mind is that Miami – while not nearly as rested as San Antonio – will also get two full days of recovery after Game 1, and the Heat will be able to sleep in their own beds. Miami will be helped to a degree by the Thursday-Sunday-Tuesday playing schedule of the Finals. Stamina probably won’t be a negative factor for the Heat in this contest.
What points to a San Antonio win in this game is not so much the rest-based part of the equation, but the rust-based part of the calculus. The Spurs should be able to shake off the rust that will likely characterize Game 1. They should be in flow in Game 2, displaying the kind of rhythm and seamless action that defines their halfcourt sets. San Antonio will probably find Game 1 to be an uneven and uncomfortable experience, but Game 2 should be different, and that’s why the Spurs deserve a small but real edge on Sunday evening in Miami.
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