Game #21 Preview: Warriors @ Spurs - Winning is better than losing

The Spurs are coming off of a very comfortable win against a division foe on Sunday.  The Spurs had a rough week last week losing a game to the Clippers and being taken to the brink against the T-Pups.  After a couple of much needed days off the Spurs are looking to continue their winning ways against the Warriors.  The Warriors will be playing a SEGABABA tonight.

It seems like we just played these guys, oh, we did.  I really don't understand the schedule makers for the NBA.  The Spurs in 21 games will have played the Clippers 3 times, the Hornets 3 times and Golden State twice.  We'll end up with two games against Denver and Orlando before Christmas.  Yet, we haven't even played the Lakers once and won't until after Christmas.  I guess it doesn't really matter, but it sure doesn't make much sense either.  I guess a game of darts is just as fun for those guys as it is for the masses.

Alright, so despite the odd schedule making your Spurs are a paltry 17-3.  The Warriors forced the Spurs to run the court last time around I wouldn't be surprised to see more of that this game.  The good news is the Spurs do not have to play again tomorrow night and the Warriors should be a little gassed after playing in Dallas last night.

Here is some of the great Chuck Berry for your listening pleasure.

Maybe he should go to the Spurs game.

San Antonio Spurs vs Golden State Warriors Where: AT&T Center When: Wednesday, 12/8/10, 7:30 p.m. Spurs Time - Timezone Converter Watch: Fox Sports SW By the Numbers Data source: basketball-reference.com
Category Stat Rank Offensive Rating 112.4 3rd Defensive Rating 102.9 8th Defensive Rebound Rate 75% 9th Offensive Rebound Rate 26% 14th Field Goal Percentage 47% 10th 3-Point FG Percentage 40% 1st Free Throw Percentage 80% 5th Turnover Percentage 13% 6th			Category Stat Rank Offensive Rating 106.4 16th Defensive Rating 111.7 29th Defensive Rebound Rate 70% 28th Offensive Rebound Rate 29% 7th Field Goal Percentage 45% 20th 3-Point FG Percentage 38% 9th Free Throw Percentage 74% 23rd Turnover Percentage 14% 20th
Record Wins Losses Overall 17 3 Conference 11 3 Division 3 2 Home 9 2 Away 8 1       Position Conference Division Record 1st 1st Lineups Starters PG: Tony Parker SG: Manu Ginobili SF: Richard Jefferson PF: DeJuan Blair C: Tim Duncan Key Bench Players  George Hill Tiago Splitter Gary Neal			Record Wins Losses Overall 8 12 Conference 5 9 Division 1 3 Home 5 4 Away 3 9       Position Conference Division Record 10th 3rd Lineups Starters PG: Stephen Curry SG: Monta Ellis SF: Dorell Wright PF: David Lee C: Andris Biedrins Key Bench Players Rodney Carney Dan Gadzuric Vladimir Radmanovic

Matchup Analysis

	Point Guard
	Shooting Guard
	Small Forward
	Power Forward
	Center
	Bench
	Coach
	Intangibles
	Mojo
	Winner

Starters

PG: Tony had his best game in the last five games against the NOOCHies.  Hirschof raved about his defense as did the boys from 48 MoH.  If Tony can play that well this team is insanely hard for teams with less talent to beat the Spurs.  Curry will be a tough guard for Parker, but if he's focused he'll be fine.  I see Parker dominating here.

SG: I should go back and just copy and paste what I put last time these two teams played.  Ellis is a scorer and a good one at that, but he's not a complete player.  You know who is?  The Sickness.  So complete is he that he received the #1 Star for the Spurs against the Hornets while only scoring 8 points.

SF: Rage is going to have to pay attention to Wright on the perimeter.  Wright is a dead-eye shooter.  Jefferson can and should make Wright work on defensive side of the ball.  RJ should be able to take advantage of his new found BBIQ and win this match-up.

PF: David Lee is still good at rebounding.  Blair has looked good better the past couple of games.  He will need to be on point tonight as Lee will make him pay for being out of position.  I think Lee will take this match up with his more developed offensive game and better rebounding.

C: Timmeh has been a rock of late.  Biedrins is a work horse, he tied Duncan with 18 rebounds the last time these teams played.  Duncan of course can do more than just rebound, demonstrated by his triple-double the last go around with the Warriors.  Duncan is just too much for Biedrins.

Bench

Radmanovic and Carney are the Warriors only real threats on their bench.  Radmanovic because he can catch fire and Carney because he has length and athleticism.  The Spurs will be bringing Bonner, McDyess, Neal, Hill and 7 Feet of Deliciousness (Splitter) off their bench.  This isn't even close.

Coaching

Once again Pop has the clear edge here.  He's got a better team to work with and he does great work with what he has.  Here's a nice quote that Caphill found from Pop:  I just asked the guys, if they didn’t mind, if we could go ahead and get aggressive again, that would be fine with me, if that was O.K. with them. They said, "sure Pop, we can do that." So they went out and they did it. It was all very friendly, kind of a kumbaya sort of thing.

Intangibles

Spurs are going to be well rested.  The Warriors are coming off of a tough loss in Dallas just last night.

Mojo

Prediction

Spurs win with The Sickness leading the way.

Key(s) to the Game

Key 1 - Rebounding.  The Spurs will need to be sure to get all of the, sure to be available, defensive rebounds.  Lee and Biedrins are both very athletic and long.

Key 1 - Ball Movement.  This offense needs the ball to move and move well.  The Spurs need to do what they did in the last match up with the Warriors, get a ton of assists.

Other Reading

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell 

Spurs Nation

Project Spurs

OPPONENT

Golden State Of Mind(SB Nation)

Following Along

TV 

FSSW 

Radio

WOAI 1200AM; Audio League Pass[streaming]

Online

As always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash.  Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.

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