The San Antonio Spurs will attempt to end their five game skid tonight as they face in-state rival Houston at the Toyota Center. The two Southwest squads are scheduled to take the court at 8:30pm ET. NBA Spreads have the hosting Rockets listed as a -2.5 against the spread favorite; the Over/Under is set at 213.5.
Tim Duncan may not be the player he once was, but his value to the Spurs cannot questioned as the team's recent run would
indicate. Duncan went down with an ankle injury minutes into a 111-96 win against the Warriors on March 21st and he missed four games as a result of the mishap.
San Antonio went 0-4 in that stretch, losing to Denver, Portland (twice), and Memphis. The Spurs slide reached five games last night with a 97-107 loss to the Celtics at the AT&T Center. Duncan returned for the game and even posted an impressive 20 point/14 rebound stat line, but, obviously, his presence was not enough to halt the team's skid.
Now the Spurs (57-18), which have owned the top spot in the West almost the entire season, find themselves in jeopardy of losing their place to the Lakers. Los Angeles trails San Antonio by 2.5 games with seven game remaining on the schedule. The two teams will face each other at the STAPLES Center on April 12th in the Spurs penultimate regular season game.
At least San Antonio is assured of a postseason berth, though; their division counterpart, Houston, cannot boast the same. The Rockets, after losing two of their last three games, are three back of the eighth place Grizzlies in the Western Conference standings.
Houston's chances are slim with just seven games remaining on the schedule, but it will play five of those contests at home, starting with tonight's dust up against the Spurs.
The Rockets, which are 22-14 at the Toyota Center this season, have lost four in a row to the Spurs and they are just 2-3 in their last five against Duncan and company in Houston.
Spurs vs Rockets NBA Spreads April 1st, 2011:
San Antonio Spurs +2.5 (-110), Over 213.5 (-110), +120 (Moneyline)
Houston Rockets -2.5 (-110), Under 213.5 (-110), -140 (Moneyline)
