DeAndre Jordan had 11 rebounds and one block in Monday’s loss at San Antonio/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

Any time NBA teams combine for 243 points in a game, it’ safe to say defense was not at its best. Clippers coach Doc Rivers admitted as much Monday night after his team was defeated 125-118 at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

“We could have played better defense, so could they,” Rivers said. “It was 125-118, so clearly there wasn’t a lot of great defense in this game. I just thought their energy stayed pretty consistent, and I thought our energy went up and down in the game.”

The Clippers fell behind by 17 points in the third quarter and did well to tie the game in the fourth. But what was shocking was the very idea that they were at least partly responsible for the Spurs shooting 75 percent (30 of 40) in the first half, 66.7 percent (6 of 9) from 3-point range.

Clippers post DeAndre Jordan said a lack of defense was directly responsible for the defeat.

“We have to be better,” he said. “It starts defensively. Our second unit came out and gave us great energy in the third quarter, got us back into the game early fourth. I felt like as a group, especially with our starting unit, our defense wasn’t as good as it could have been and I feel that’s what made us lose the game.”

Jordan is averaging 15.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks this month. He had 11 rebounds and one block Monday.

San Antonio ended up shooting 63.6 percent for the game, 56.5 percent (13 of 23) from 3-point range. The Clippers shot 50 percent, 41.7 percent (10 of 24) from beyond the arc.