Dominant Spurs looking for clean sweep

Home advantage is always crucial in the NBA Finals and so it's proving again as the San Antonio Spurs took a 2-0 lead over defending champions the Detroit Pistons thanks to two convincing wins.

The Spurs are now 1/7 (1.14) favourites (from 10/23) to win the best-of-seven series and take the championship for the third time in seven years, while the Pistons are 5/1 (6.00), out from their original 19/10, to come back and take the title for a second straight year and emulate the Isaiah Thomas-led team of 1989 and 1990 by retaining the crown.

Though it's not unheard of for a team to come back from losing the first two games of a Finals series and take the Championship, history tells us that it will be tough for the Pistons to overturn the deficit, even though the next three games are in Detroit. Since 1985, when the NBA introduced the two home, three away, two home schedule for the Finals, no team has squandered a 2-0 lead. In fact, the Boston Celtics in 1969 and the Indiana Trailblazers in 1977 are the only two teams to have ever come back from 2-0 down to win.

The Spurs appear to be performing at their peak, while the Pistons, who scraped into the finals with a 4-3 win over the Miami Heat, are struggling to keep up. A 4-1 win for the Spurs is now the 10/3 (4.33) favourite with bet365, having started out as an 11/2 (6.50) shot. A 4-3 win is 7/2 (4.50) while a 4-0 whitewash is just 9/2, having begun affairs as a 25/1 (26.00) shot.

Those brave souls that fancy opposing history and backing the Pistons to come back can get 8/1 (9.00) that they win 4-3, and 11/1 (12.00) that they win four straight games and take the series 4-2.

As for Tuesday's game, the Spurs are 9/10 (1.90) favourites, giving up a four-point start, while the Pistons are the same price with the start. It's also 9/10 (1.90) that the game contains 170.5 points or more, and the same price for the under.