Westgate SuperBook installs Spurs as massive underdogs in Western Conference finals

Leading 31-24 entering the second, the Spurs levied the knockout blow with a 19-3 run fueled largely by reserves. They will be the Spurs next mission to complete. But the Golden State Warriors, whom they’ll meet in this next series, could provide the largest burden yet.

As expected, the Warriors are a heavy favorite to advance to the NBA Finals, as they should be. “Every challenge that the Warriors came up against this year they had the answer and now they’re full strength and they’re going to do it”, said fan John Sugano. Harden did average 12 assists in the two contests but his overall numbers are a significant dropoff from the regular season, when he averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 assists and nine rebounds in four games against the Spurs. They moved the ball, played suffocating defence and had the Houston crowd booing the hometown team by half-time. He also said that he takes responsibility for the tough night his team had.

Sure, it was almost seven months ago when the Spurs came to town and thoroughly spoiled Durant’s much-hyped debut – a 129-100 whipping in the season opener – with the Warriors after his scrutinized departure from Oklahoma City. I’d be extremely surprised if they win two games.

In 2005 the Phoenix Suns owned the best record in the National Basketball Association, and had MVP Steve Nash on their roster.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Leave it to Gregg Popovich to play mind games ahead of the Western Conference finals. Steve Kerr was a consultant then and the style he used with the Suns then is the one he uses with the Warriors now.

“They made shots”, Brooks said. The Spurs are without French star guard Tony Parker, out for the remainder of the playoffs with a torn left quadriceps.

Spurs: Danny Green got a technical in the third quarter for a scuffle with Ariza. The Rockets have a few athletic defensive specimens on their team, but it takes a five-man unit to stop the Spurs’ relentless, methodical attack. D’Antoni, who helped Houston to a 14-game improvement in his first season, believes the Rockets might have been worn down by dealing with a team that lacks a clear weakness to exploit. But face it: You want to see the best players and the best teams vie for the championship. Playing in San Antonio on March 30th, the Spurs were up 21 in the first before losing by 12.

Green has been absolutely the Warriors best player on both ends of the court thus far during the playoffs. But even bringing it to Houston for the first time since Hakeem Olajuwon won it in 1994 is unlikely remove that awful taste of how the season ended. Yet people were saying the same things before the Spurs v Rockets series, and look how that ended up.

It’s of little consolation now, but no matter what Houston did in this series, the next one would be perilous.

But the Spurs are not going to go down without a fight. They stuck with this change throughout the series, which slowed the Rockets’ offense down to a point. However, Harden not only failed to take advantage of the absence of the league’s best perimeter defender, he was stunningly ineffective in the final four minutes of regulation and through the five-minute overtime period.

This will all be put to the test against the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, which will be the first matchup between the teams in the playoffs since the 2013 Western Conference semifinals, when the Spurs won that series 4-2.