NBA Betting: Death of a Dynasty?

NBA Betting: Death of a Dynasty?
We look at how the Hornets have dominated the Spurs so far

May 6, 2008

By Carlisle Richards
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

Those who watched Game 1 and 2 of the San Antonio/New Orleans series witnessed something rare: the Spurs dominated by a younger, quicker and surprisingly smarter team – the Hornets.

Of course, no series is over until the victory confetti drops but the Hornets have dismantled the Spurs in games 1 and 2 by 19 and 18 points respectively, putting them down 0-2 for the first time since 2001. That year they were swept by the "threepeating" Laker dynasty.

So what in the name of boring, fundamental basketball are the Hornets doing to one of the best dynasties in NBA history? We take a closer look:

Tony Parker is in Check…

The Phoenix/San Antonio series was hyped like the NBA finals but ended up looking like another weak first-round matchup. Why? Because of San Antonio’s Tony Parker.
Tony ParkerTony Parker hasn't been nearly as dominant against the Hornets as he was against the Suns. (AP Images)

Parker only scored 30-plus points four times for the Spurs during the regular season, but did it three times in that series alone. Besides the fact that the Suns have terrible team defense, their point guard, Steve Nash, was exposed as a terrible defender. The 6-foot-2-inch Parker ran layup drills in the paint, and barely needed to score from outside for much of the series.

The Hornets, however, have been able to slow the speedy guard down. Parker is a great slasher on offense, but isn’t nearly as effective when kept behind the foul line. The Hornets were able to slow him to 23 points in Game 1 before shutting him down in Game 2, he had just 11 points.

The Hornets’ Chris Paul and Jannero Pargo have the quicks to keep him from blowing past the foul line while David West and Tyson Chandler are young and athletic enough to close the door quickly if he gets in the paint. The team defense has made scoring and passing more difficult for him, thus making it harder for him to help other Spurs get easy buckets.

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