Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs and Jrue Holiday of the Philadelphia 76ers will be the matchup for tonight's game.
During their first meeting this season, Parker outscored Holiday 20-11 while Holiday helped his team grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 8 assists. Holiday shot 33% (5-15) from the field while Parker shot 50% (8-16) for the game. WIth Parker on the floor, the Spurs were +22 with his contributions while Holiday had a -22 for the game, in part for the lack of defense from him and the rest of the team. This matchup between these two quick point guards will be the most exciting of the game and will likely determine who comes out with a win this game.
What Parker must do on offense:
Parker has to get the rest of the team involved and that would have the Philly defense scrambling on rotations. The Sixers have an athletic group of defenders, but they're ranked 16th in points allowed (97.3ppg). They have Thaddeus Young at power forard and Lavoy Allen as their bigs and they're easy to exploit on the defensive end. Young is a guy who can play both forward positions but he's not exactly the best help defender while Allen is listed at 6'9" for their center position. Parker using pick and rolls from his big men and penetrating will force Philadelphia to either help out on Parker early on the pick and leave a shooter open or hope both defenders are able to recover quick enough to give Parker a tough layup. With Tony having a mid range jumper, the 76ers probably won't be looking to give him a mid range shot unless he's dominating the paint.
What Parker must do on defense:
Holiday shot well in some departments such as in the paint and mid range when Parker was on the floor, but a lot of his good percentages were on a low number of shots. The Sixers can't win this game if he duplicates a performance like that and Parker has to see that it does happen again. For the year, Holiday is shooting only 35% from corner 3 and 38% from the wing. If Parker can chase him defensively from his high percentage areas (43% from mid range and 42% from the painted area), it'll give the Spurs an easier chance of daring their opposing point guard on beating them on his weaknesses over his strengths.
