The “can’t rebound worth a crap” San Antonio Spurs (3-1) will be facing the Miami Heat (0-3) in San Antonio tonight as the last two NBA Champs face off.
The Spurs, coming off their first lost last night against the Rockets, will try to get back on the winning track against a Miami team that is winless in the new season. If history is on the Spurs side, they should have no problem bouncing back. Spurs have a tendency to come back strong after a loss. Also, the Spurs are 19-1 in San Antonio against the Heat all time.
Against the Rockets, the Spurs were outrebounded 25-4 in offensive rebounds and 55-28 overall in rebounding. They need to correct this immediately. Tim Duncan got a double-double but had a terrible game going 5-15 for the field. All this plus the Spurs only scoring 32 points in the first half only meant a loss for the Spurs.
For the Heat, no Wade, no wins. Simple as that. Shaq isn’t the dominant force he used to be but he does average 24.8 points and 12.3 rebounds in 36 career games versus San Antonio. Also, the Heat traded Antoine Walker to the Wolves for Ricky Davis, and lost Jason Kapono to the Raptors in the off-season.
Even though Miami has had a rough start of the season, the good news is that Wade participated in his first full-contact practice since undergoing the surgery in May but does not know when he’ll be able to return to the lineup.
Key match up tonight will be Bowen vs. Ricky Davis. Seeing how Bowen doesn’t have to guard Wade tonight, Bowen will have to contain Davis, seeing how Davis is the main option on the floor for Miami. If Bowen is able to slow down Davis, then Miami has to rely on Jason Williams, Dorell Wright, Udonis Haslem to provide help. As you can see, not a great position to be in if you are Miami.
In the end, Spurs will be back on the winning track with the win tonight.
