Kleeman's Last Word

Spurs' key to game 7 is a game 3

Two great teams will spar tonight in New Orleans. The one that plays better will advance to the Western Conference Finals for a bout with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Sounds simple, huh? Tonight's game is simple and the Spurs can win it. NBA viewers have watched in boredom as home teams have dominated the second round. The road team is a dismal 2-22. The Spurs needn't pay attention to that useless stat.

The defending champs are too good to let this "winning on the road is tough" mind game control them. Whatever happened to the opportunity winning a road game presents? Shutting up, in this case, an arena of bandwagon fans who only started supporting the team when the promise of playoff success forced them to take notice?

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and the rest of the crew should transport themselves back a few weeks ago to the hot hell of Phoenix, Arizona. Then, Parker scored 41 points and played the game of his life. The Spurs routed the cocky Suns from start to finish, grabbed a 3-0 lead and stole any hope Phoenix had of winning the series. Where are those Spurs?

The Hornets will not win or lose because of inexperience. The team that plays better and wants it more will win the game. Simple.

The Spurs must stop convincing themselves that there's something in the Gumbo, the baskets in New Orleans Arena are crooked and the crowd makes the Hornets unstoppable. This team won in Utah and Phoenix en route to a 2007 championship. No offense to the city where tragedy still stings, but New Orleans is a piece of cake. If the Spurs can win with Jazz fans hurling sharp objects at them, they can win in a city that hasn't proven it can support two professional sports franchises.

This is the Big Three's chance to right what went wrong in a game 7 two years ago against the Dallas Mavericks. Then, the Spurs fought back from a 20-point deficit at the AT&T Center behind a roaring crowd, only to watch Ginobili negate his go ahead three pointer with a silly foul on Dirk Nowitzki.

If the Spurs can remember the pain of that night, they can win tonight's game.

The best thing the Spurs can do tonight is be themselves. The lethargic team that lost by an average of 20 points in three road games is not the defending champion the world knows and hates. A return to game 3 in Phoenix will help the Spurs quit telling themselves winning tonight will beat the odds. The odds don't matter.

If the real Spurs don't show up, the Hornets will complete a quick turnaround trip to Los Angeles tomorrow morning to face a Laker team brimming with confidence. The real Spurs would be happy to save them the trouble.

posted by Robert Kleeman @ 2:14 PM