Mavs Spurs Game 7 Pick

Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs

Game 7

Sunday 3:30 pm EST

May 4, 2014

Line: San Antonio Spurs -6.5

20 seconds was all the stood between the San Antonio Spurs and a NBA championship last season. Having all summer to ponder what should’ve been, the Spurs championship hopes, once again, hangs in the balance of one game.

Looking to avenge a Game 7 loss to the Mavericks from 2006, the Spurs will have to defeat Dirk Nowitzki, who has never lost a Game 7 (4-0). Averaging 28 points and 14.8 rebounds in those games, don’t expect anything less from Nowitzki in this one. Not with his track record and not with the Hall of Fame career he’s had.

He proved it once again in Game 6, when the eighth-seeded Mavericks bounced back from consecutive losses by handing the Spurs their first road defeat when leading after three quarters this season. Led by Monta Ellis, who scored 12 of his 29 points in the fourth-quarter, and Nowitzki’s 22 points, the Mavericks pulled out the comeback against the best closing team in the NBA.

After being suspended for Game 5 against his former team for kicking Tiago Splitter in the head, having DeJuan Blair back on the floor paid huge dividends for the Mavericks. Especially in Game 6, Blair continues to make an impact, pushing his former team to the brink of elimination

While the Mavericks certainly dodged the knockout punch late in the Game 6, especially since the Spurs shot 53.3 percent from the field and had all five starters score in double figures, Dallas somehow managed to force a deciding game.

The Spurs coasted into the playoffs with a league-best record of 62-20. But now they’re being pushed to the limit in the West playoffs for the first time since the second round in 2008. San Antonio’s inability to close out games over the past two-playoff series will be hovering over their heads. Thinking about what could’ve been, the Spurs are going to have another long offseason to think about what went wrong.

Nowitzki has never faltered when the lights have shined the brightest. He’s not going to start now. My money is on Nowitzki – a guy who always seems to rise to the occasion.

My pick: Mavericks +6.5 and Moneyline