NBA Playoff Schedule 2015: TV Coverage, Saturday Live Stream Guide and Picks
The last first-round game in the NBA playoffs will be played Saturday night. The Los Angeles Clippers will attempt to defend their home court against the San Antonio Spurs in a winner-take-all Game 7.
The team that prevails will take on the Houston Rockets in the second round. Here's a look at the viewing information for Saturday's game.
| Saturday, 8 p.m. ET | TNT | TNT Drama |
Keys to Victory
Clippers' Transition Game
The Clippers must get out and run to have success. In Game 6, they had 30 fast-break points en route to a 102-96 victory over the Spurs in San Antonio.
Scoring points in transition in Game 7 would ignite the crowd and increase the confidence of the role players, who often decide these types of games. The more easy buckets you can get for players like J.J. Redick, DeAndre Jordan and Matt Barnes, the more apt they will be to play big down the stretch.
Superstar Matchups
San Antonio has to get contribution from Tony Parker. He's been battling injuries all season and has only looked like himself in spots in this series.
Parker has been outplayed by the Clippers' Chris Paul in all but one game. The former has to muster up enough strength and toughness to give his team an inspired performance.
While Tim Duncan has had a much better series than Parker, Blake Griffin is getting the better of their matchup. Griffin is averaging 24.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, a remarkable seven assists and 1.67 blocked shots per game.
When you compare that to Duncan's 16.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.67 blocks, the future Hall of Famer's solid numbers are still being dwarfed by Griffin's explosion.
Basketball is a team game, but when one team's marquee players are outperforming the others in a close series, it's clear which team has the advantage.
Prediction
It's very hard to bet against the defending champion Spurs, but this Clippers team came up with a huge win in Game 6 on the road. It should not be understated how significant that victory was against such a veteran and accomplished team on the road.
The Clippers' confidence has to be sky high, and they have the momentum. They will get it done in Game 7.
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