Schedule and 2008 Results
Regular Season Records: New Orleans 56-26, San Antonio 56-26
Game 1 on Saturday, 03 May: San Antonio loses at New Orleans, 101-pts-82
Game 2 on Monday, 05 May: San Antonio loses at New Orleans, 102-pts-84
Game 3 on Thursday, 08 May: New Orleans loses at San Antonio, 110-pts-99
Game 4 on Sunday, 11 May: New Orleans loses at San Antonio, 100-pts-80
Game 5 on Tuesday 13 May: San Antonio at New Orleans
Game 6 on Thursday 15 May: New Orleans at San Antonio
Game 7* on Monday 19 May: San Antonio at New Orleans
* if needed

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Tied 2-games-all at HHVV:
Ignoring win order; considering site order: The team tied 2-games-all with Games 1-2 at home and Games 3-4 on the road (New Orleans) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2008 NHL Quarterfinals and NBA Preliminary rounds:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 244-122 (.667)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Qtrs round: 73-32 (.695)
series record, NBA only, all rounds: 94-28 (.770)
series record, NBA only, Qtrs round: 41-7 (.854)
Game 5 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 230-136 (.628)
Game 5 record, all best-of-7 sports, Qtrs round: 73-32 (.695)
Game 5 record, NBA only, all rounds: 89-33 (.730)
Game 5 record, NBA only, Qtrs round: 37-11 (.771)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1042 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2008 NHL Quarterfinals and NBA Preliminary rounds. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Tied WWLL:
Considering win order; ignoring site order: The team winning Games 1-2 and losing Games 3-4 irrespective of site (New Orleans) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2008 NHL Quarterfinals and NBA Preliminary rounds:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 105-52 (.669)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Qtrs round: 33-15 (.688)
series record, NBA only, all rounds: 47-12 (.797)
series record, NBA only, Qtrs round: 23-3 (.885)
Game 5 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 96-61 (.611)
Game 5 record, all best-of-7 sports, Qtrs round: 29-19 (.604)
Game 5 record, NBA only, all rounds: 43-16 (.729)
Game 5 record, NBA only, Qtrs round: 19-7 (.731)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1042 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2008 NHL Quarterfinals and NBA Preliminary rounds. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Tied WWLL at HHVV:
Considering win order; considering site order: The team winning Games 1-2 and losing Games 3-4 with Games 1-2 at home and Games 3-4 on the road (New Orleans) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2008 NHL Quarterfinals and NBA Preliminary rounds:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 94-34 (.734)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Qtrs round: 29-8 (.784)
series record, NBA only, all rounds: 44-9 (.830)
series record, NBA only, Qtrs round: 21-1 (.955)
Game 5 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 87-41 (.680)
Game 5 record, all best-of-7 sports, Qtrs round: 27-10 (.730)
Game 5 record, NBA only, all rounds: 40-13 (.755)
Game 5 record, NBA only, Qtrs round: 17-5 (.773)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1042 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2008 NHL Quarterfinals and NBA Preliminary rounds. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 4: Tying MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1049 at 2-games-all, the San Antonio Spurs hosted and defeated the New Orleans Hornets 100-pts-80. When tied 2-games-all in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the New Orleans Hornets have a series record of 0-1 and a Game 5 record of 0-1 (with the Game 5 and series losses both occurring in series 924, to the Miami Heat in seven games in the 2004 NBA Preliminary round). When tied 2-games-all in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the San Antonio Spurs have a series record of 7-5 with a four-series winning streak, and a Game 5 record of 7-5 with a four-Game 5 winning streak. When the San Antonio Spurs are tied 2-games-all and win Game 5 in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series, their series record is 7-0. When the San Antonio Spurs are tied 2-games-all and lose Game 5 in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series, their series record is 0-5. In the history of best-of-7 NBA Quarterfinals series, teams such as the New Orleans Hornets that win Games 1-2 at home and lose Games 3-4 on the road have a 21-1 series record. The sole loss in this situation was sustained by the San Antonio Spurs, in series 932 to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. So it is that the 2008 San Antonio Spurs find a favorable precedent in the 2004 Los Angeles Lakers ... against the 2004 San Antonio Spurs.

After Game 3: With MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1049 in Texas for Games 3-4, the host San Antonio Spurs defeated the New Orleans Hornets 110-pts-99 in Game 3 to cut the New Orleans series lead to 2-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the New Orleans Hornets have a 1-0 series record and a 1-0 Game 4 record, with both the series and Game 4 wins coming in series 1043 (in the 2008 NBA Preliminary round, against the Dallas Mavericks). When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the San Antonio Spurs have a perfect 0-10 series record and a Game 4 record of 4-6 with an active four-Game 6 losing streak.

After Game 2: The New Orleans Hornets hosted and defeated the San Antonio Spurs 102-pts-84 to take a 2-games-nil lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1049. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the New Orleans Hornets have a series record of 1-0 and a Game 3 record of 0-1. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the San Antonio Spurs have a series record of 0-6 and a Game 3 record of 4-2. In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff series from 1947 through the 2008 NBA Preliminary round, teams leading an NBA Quarterfinals series 2-games-nil with Games 1-2 at home have a 77-2 (.975) series record. The latter of the two teams to lose in that situation was the San Antonio Spurs, in series 932 to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Quarterfinals. Those 2004 Lakers, having defeated the 2004 edition of the San Antonio Spurs, thus offer a favorable precedent for the 2008 edition of the Spurs in series 1049 against New Orleans (which are heavily favored by the applicable historical victory probabilities).

After Game 1: The New Orleans Hornets hosted and defeated the San Antonio Spurs 101-pts-82 to take a 1-game-nil lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1049. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the New Orleans Hornets have a series record of 1-0 and a Game 2 record of 1-0. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the San Antonio Spurs have a series record of 4-10 with a four-series winning streak, and a Game 2 record of 8-6.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2007-08 regular season, New Orleans finished tied with San Antonio at 56-26, but has home-court advantage through a tiebreaker. From 1947 through the 2007 NBA Finals, when NBA teams were tied with their best-of-7 playoff series opponents in regular-season games, the team playing Game 1 at home has posted an 8-4 (.667) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1049 is the 38th best-of-7 NBA playoff series for San Antonio, and the fourth for the New Orleans Hornets. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series, San Antonio has a 23-14 series record, a 9-9 Quarterfinals series record, and a 23-14 Game 1 record, while New Orleans has a 1-2 series record, a 0-0 Quarterfinals record, and a 1-2 Game 1 record. Series 1049 is the first best-of-7 NBA playoff series meeting between the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Hornets.