After hitting their stride, Spurs show vulnerability
After a recent 11-game win streak, San Antonio is in something of a free fall.
The NBA’s defending champions have lost three of their last four, including an embarrassing 100-75 loss at New Orleans on Wednesday.
Things do not figure to get easier for the Spurs tonight when they visit Detroit.
The Pistons, who lost to the Spurs, 4-3, in the NBA Finals to culminate the 2004-05 season, have defeated San Antonio in six of their last 10 meetings. Included in those victories was a 90-80 decision Jan. 10 in Texas.
Detroit, which has won 24 of 30 in Auburn Hills, Mich., is coming off a loss to visiting Philadelphia on Wednesday, meaning both the Pistons and Spurs have not been kind to bettors.
San Antonio has lost its last six games against the spread and Detroit has dropped five in a row.
Baseball
The Dodgers, who had a losing record against National League West opponents last year, are favored to win the season series against two of their rivals in 2008.
The website Bodoglife.com has the Dodgers, who were 34-38 in the division a season ago, at -155 against defending NL champion Colorado. This means a bettor would have to wager $155 to win $100. The Rockies, who won 12 of 18 against Los Angeles, including seven in a row to end the 2007 season, are +125 (a player would bet $100 to win $125). Colorado had the best record in the division, finishing 43-30.
San Diego, which won 10 of 18 against the Dodgers last season, is +120 and the Dodgers are -150. Arizona, which lost 10 of 18 to the Dodgers in 2007, is -115, the same price as the Dodgers.
Golf
Lorena Ochoa, the best player on the LPGA Tour, is heavily favored to win the MasterCard Classic, beginning today in Huixquilucan, Mexico.
A two-time player of the year and a winner of 14 tournaments in the last two years, Ochoa, a native of Mexico, is the 5-6 choice on Bodoglife.com to win for the second time in as many starts in 2008. Ochoa began her season with an 11-stroke win over Annika Sorenstam in the HSBC Women’s Champions.
The next individual listed is Hee-Won Han at 16-1, then comes Jeong Jang and Seon Hue Lee at 20-1. Megan Francella, who defeated Sorenstam in a four-hole sudden-death playoff in this event a year ago, is 66-1 to repeat.
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