Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs @ New Orleans Pelicans

San Antonio Spurs @ New Orleans Pelicans

Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
April 15, 2015, 7:00 PM Spurs Time
TV: FSSW, RADIO: 1200 AM WOAI

The final game of the San Antonio Spurs' 2014-15 regular season campaign is upon us, Pounders. Tonight, they face off against the New Orleans Pelicans in what is sure to be an intense, tightly-played basketball game.

With a win, the Spurs will end up as the second seed in the West, capping off an incredible last month and a half of play. If they lose, they could wind up anywhere from 2nd to 6th. It's difficult to explain in just words, but luckily CBSSport's Matt Moore made a neat chart detailing all of the possibilities for who will be the 2nd through 6th seeds in the West. If the Pelicans were to win, they would clinch the final playoff spot in the West, so they can be expected to be at their top form for the night.

As always with New Orleans, the focus of the Spurs' defense will be on MVP candidate, Anthony Davis. At only 21 years old, Davis has been an absolute beast all year, averaging 24.3 points per game, 10.2 rebounds, 2.9 blocks, and 2.2 assists. Defending Davis is a chore for defenses. He's already a great scorer, but it's even more difficult because he isn't the focal point of the Pelicans' offense. He scores in a variety of ways, including by pick-and-roll, offensive putbacks, and running the floor in transition. Oh, and he also has a pure midrange jumpshot.

Speaking of pure jumpshots, the Spurs will also be tasked with keeping Eric Gordon off of the three-point line. After his once-promising career has been ruined by injury after injury for the past few seasons, Gordon has been able to come back and re-shape his game. In doing so, he has quietly turned into one of the most accurate three-point shooters in the league, posting a mark of .447 from deep on the year. San Antonio's perimeter defenders will have to be ready to close out, and run him off of the line all night if they're going to win.

On the offensive end of the floor, San Antonio will of course have to keep an eye out for Davis lurking in the paint. Look for them to keep both him and the rest of the Pelicans' defense on their toes with probes into the paint, and quick kick-outs to try and find an open shooter.

The Pelicans will be fighting for their season, and the game is in New Orleans, so the arena is going to be amped, and the atmosphere is going to be great for this game. It's going to serve as a huge test to see how ready a young Anthony Davis is for the postseason, and will serve as a nice warm-up for a veteran Spurs squad. No matter how it ends, this is going to be must-watch basketball.

	vs
New Orleans Pelicans (44-37)		San Antonio Spurs (55-26)
April 15, 2015
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
7:00 PM CDT
TV: FSSW Radio: WOAI 1200AM
Starters
Jrue Holiday	PG	Tony Parker
Eric Gordon	SG	Danny Green
Tyreke Evans	SF	Kawhi Leonard
Anthony Davis	PF	Tiago Splitter
Omer Asik	C	Tim Duncan

For the Pelicans' perspective, visit The Bird Writes.

Game prediction: Spurs by 5.

As always Tony must dominate Fisher, and you can get your San Antonio Spurs tickets from Daniel Farias with Spurs Sports & Entertainment: Tel: 210-444-5607 | dfarias@attcenter.com