Tag Archives: San Antonio Spurs

Five things to take from Clippers’ 122-117 victory at Charlotte

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Coach Doc Rivers and son Austin Rivers chat during the Clippers’ 122-117 victory Wednesday at Charlotte/AP photo by  Bob Leverone

 

– The Clippers, as they have recently, once again showed a lot of resolve even though they were missing leading scorer Blake Griffin, who has missed the past three games with a partially torn quad tendon. The Clippers have won four in a row overall.

– Another solid game by a the bench, which has not included the services of Josh Smith, who apparently remains in Doc Rivers’ doghouse; Smith has now not played in four of the past five games. Even Lance Stephenson played only two minutes in this one. Austin Rivers led the reserves with 22 points, Jamal Crawford scored 11, Cole Aldrich had seven points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks; and Pablo Prigioni had five points – making both of his field-goal attempts – and four assists.

– J.J. Redick scored a team-high 26 points and made 5 of 6 from 3-point range. Redick is now shooting a career-high 47.7 percent (73 of 153) from beyond the arc. Redick is third in the league behind Kawhi Leonard (48.8 percent) of San Antonio and Jared Dudley (48.3) of Washington.

– Another solid effort from 38-year-old Paul Pierce, who started and played 21 minutes. He scored 13 points. He shot 4 of 9, 3 of 7 from 3-point range. He also grabbed five rebounds, doled out two assists, made a steal and had a block.

– Speaking of 3-pointers, the Clippers shot 50 percent (15 of 30) from long-distance. After struggling in this area early on, the Clippers are now shooting 35.3 percent from 3-point range – tied with Portland for 13th in the league. A month ago, the Clippers’ percentage was 32.8.

Five things to take from Clippers’ 115-107 loss at San Antonio

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Chris Paul

Chris Paul/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

– This loss means the Clippers (16-11) are still without a signature victory
this season. But they do seem to play well against the best teams in the
league. Now if they can do that against everyone instead of playing down to
the competition, that consistency might result in victories when they do come
up against the elite. Think about it.

– Real nice game by Chris Paul. He went for 27 points on 8 of 14 shooting,
made 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, doled out 10 assists and made three
steals. Oh, and he had just two turnovers in 34 minutes.

– From a scoring standpoint, Blake Griffin also did well, coming through with
25 points on 10 of 19 from the field. he also had five assists. But it’s also
a bit disturbing when the powerfully built 6-foot-10 forward only comes up
with five rebounds, and he played a team-high 40 minutes.

– DeAndre Jordan had 17 rebounds for the Clippers, who were nevertheless
outrebounded 44-37. Jordan also had two blocks and 16 points.

– LaMarcus Aldridge has been a heck of an acquisition for the Spurs (23-5), and makes
them that much tougher. He had 26 points and 13 rebounds and is now averaging
16.1 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Clippers’ Josh Smith believes team moving in ‘the right direction’

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Josh Smith

Josh Smith/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

The Clippers on Friday came close, but it was no cigar in their 115-107 loss at San Antonio. That means the Clippers (16-11) still don’t have a signature win this season. But they are on the rise, reserve forward/center Josh Smith said post-game.

“I like it,” said Smith, who had six points and two blocks. “I mean, it’s progress and it was definitely a playoff atmosphere to the game. Definitely competitive tonight. Pretty sure the people that watched got their money’s worth on just to see two good teams battle it out. There’s no consolation, but from our understanding and looking at the overall gist of the game, we’re heading the right direction.”

The Clippers play at Houston (13-14) on Saturday night at 5.

 

Clippers’ J.J. Redick can’t say enough about Spurs after loss

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Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) loses the ball as he is pressured by San Antonio Spurs' Patty Mills (8) and Manu Ginobili (20) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 18, 2015, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Austin Rivers reaches for the ball between Spurs Patty Mills (8) and Manu Ginobili (20) during the Clippers’ loss at San Antonio on Friday/AP photo by Eric Gay

 

The Clippers had just lost a tough one 115-107 at San Antonio on Friday night, when Clippers guard J.J. Redick was asked to talk about what makes the Spurs a good team. He couldn’t say enough.

“What makes them good is they make the right play every time down the floor,” Redick said. “They don’t predetermine anything. They can all play. They know what the first, second, third option is. They’re going to exploit whatever way you’re hedging toward. They’re going to counter that and exploit it.”

Redick wasn’t done.

“Coaching accountability, personnel, talent. It’s all of it,” Redick said, elaborating on the Spurs making the right play. “They have great players, they have great coaching. They are the team that I would say most people aspire to get to.”

The Spurs are 23-5 and have the NBA’s second-best record behind Golden State (26-1).

The Clippers are 16-11.

 

 

Clippers and Spurs are tied 55-55 at halftime at AT&T Center

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Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Blake Griffin scored 13 points and Chris Paul had 10 as the Clippers were tied with the host San Antonio Spurs 55-55 at halftime on Friday.

The Clippers (16-10) shot 55.6 percent from the field overll, 54.5 (6 of 11) from 3-point range.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs (22-5) with 12 points and Kawhi Leonard had 10.
San Antonio shot 51.1 percent – 66.7 (6 of 9) from beyond the arc.

Doc Rivers intimates Spurs playing better than Warriors at this time

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Chris Paul

Chris Paul/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

With all the talk in the NBA about the Golden State Warriors, perhaps the San Antonio Spurs are being overlooked at this time. Not by Clippers coach Doc Rivers, that’s for sure.

“San Antonio, I think their point differential now is more than Golden State’s, which, it’s funny, maybe no one knows that,” said Rivers, whose team will play at San Antonio on Friday at 5 p.m. (on Prime Ticket, ESPN). “Everyone is talking about the other team and San Antonio, they’re not beating teams right now, they’re destroying teams and so we’ve got a great challenge. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Rivers is almost right. San Antonio, at 22-5, is scoring 101.6 points per game and allowing a league-low 88.2. That’s a differential of 13.4. Golden State, at 25-1, is scoring 115.8 points and giving up 102.2, a differential of a league-best 13.6.

Either way, the Clippers will be facing a Spurs team with the second-best record in the league. San Antonio has won four consecutive games and eight of nine. Of course, the Clippers (16-10) have won nine of 11, but only two of those teams currently have better than .500 records.

It stands to reason this game will tell the Clippers a lot about themselves. Rivers isn’t so sure.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I’ll answer that at the end of it. I hope it tells me something, but you just don’t know right now.”

Clippers point guard Chris Paul figures this game will indeed give the Clippers an idea of how far they’ve come since getting off to a slow start.

“It’ll show us where we are as of Dec. 18,” he said. “But they’re a team that’s always a good test for anybody because they’re not going to beat themselves, you have to beat them.”

Speaking of differentials, the Clippers’ is 2.1.