Spurs@Clippers Game Thread

Pride is at stake against the Spurs
By Jason Reid,Times Staff Writer
December 11, 2006


Oh, you again.

The Clippers face the San Antonio Spurs three days after their embarrassing performance in Friday's 111-82 loss at the AT&T Center, providing a chance for redemption on their home court.

The Spurs are expected to present another formidable challenge for the Clippers, who said they failed their last test against the Southwest Division leaders.

"You have to take everything that happens in this game as a learning experience," Cuttino Mobley said. "You take the good and the bad and you try to get better, and the other night was definitely bad.

"So now we've got another big game coming up against San Antonio. That's going to show us a lot. We're going to see whether we learned or we didn't learn. We're going to see where we're at."

The Clippers' self-evaluation wasn't favorable after Friday's rout.

They never led, trailed by 22 at halftime and by as many as 37 in the fourth quarter. The Spurs had 31 assists and a season-low six turnovers.

Coach Mike Dunleavy questioned the effort by the Clippers, and players acknowledged they could have played with more intensity.

The Clippers' mood improved after their first road victory, Saturday at Memphis, but facing the Spurs again could temper their enthusiasm.

"I can guarantee one thing: We'll see a better effort," Dunleavy said. "That was a big, big thing with me. In my four years here, we might have had one or two games a year where you might think physically, for whatever reason, we weren't in the game.

"Sometimes along the way, you have a loss that's all scheduling. You know, your fourth game in five nights, and it's a tough go. But not in a game like that where we had a day off in between. We came off of two good wins in terms of momentum, and then we lay that type of an egg? No. That was very disappointing to me."


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Corey Maggette has a bruised left knee and is listed as day to day, a Clippers spokesman said.

Maggette is third on the team in scoring with an average of 14.1 points.

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TONIGHT

vs. San Antonio, 7:30, FSN Prime Ticket

Site — Staples Center.

Radio — 710.

Records — Clippers 10-9, Spurs 15-6.

Record vs. Spurs — 0-1.

Update — Tony Parker had a personal-best 15 assists and San Antonio got 62 points from its bench in its 29-point victory over the Clippers on Friday.

Spurs-Clippers Preview

After seeing their winning streak halted in the first of a two-game Los Angeles road trip, the San Antonio Spurs look to rebound Monday against a team it has dominated for the past nine years - the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Spurs (15-6) own a 30-4 record against the Clippers (10-9) since Dec. 10, 1997, including the first meeting of this season - a 111-82 rout Friday at the AT&T Center. However, three of San Antonio's losses to the Clippers in that span have come in their last eight visits to the Staples Center.

San Antonio followed Friday's win with a 106-99 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, ending its four-game winning streak to fall to 8-3 on the road this season.

``I thought the Lakers' pressure was great in the second half and we folded under that pressure - absolutely folded. End of story,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

The Spurs' three raod defeats have all come in their last four contests away from San Antonio. Their defense has been uncharacteristically mediocre in those defeats, yielding an average of 100.0 points.

San Antonio is allowing just 91.8 points per game overall this season, second-fewest in the NBA.

Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 23 points off the bench in Sunday's loss, after scoring a team-high 22 Friday against the Clippers.

The shooting guard has been used as the sixth man in the last four games after missing the previous four with a lower back contusion. He started the first 13 games of the season, but Michael Finley has started in his place since the injury and is averaging 10.0 points in that span.

Ginobili has averaged 14.1 points in 13 career games against the Clippers, including a 40-point performance in a 125-124 overtime win on April 9, 2005, at the Staples Center.

Another player who has success against the Clippers is Tim Duncan, who is averaging 22.0 points and 12.1 rebounds in 32 career games since against them since entering the league in 1997-98.

The Clippers have won three of their last four, after Elton Brand scored 26 points in an 89-82 win at Memphis on Saturday for their first road win in eight tries.

``It feels good to get that monkey off our back,'' Brand said. ``Now, we can hopefully get a string of road victories and go on about our business. It was definitely in the back of our minds.''

Before heading back on the road to face Portland on Friday, the Clippers can build on a 9-2 home mark with another contest at Staples against Utah on Wednesday.

Brand, who leads the team with 18.8 points per game, has keyed the Clippers' offense since being acquired in a trade from Chicago before the 2001-02 season. The power forward has finished as the team's leading scorer in four of his five seasons with the club.

This season he is averaging 20.9 points in victories, but only 16.4 in Clippers losses

This should be a good intese game with the Clippers wanting payback from getting stomped at the AT&T Center and the Spurs looking to avoid a loosing streak.

Pinto’s Preview: Clippers vs. Spurs
by Matt Pinto - December 11, 2006
TV: FSN Prime Ticket / RADIO: 710 ESPN



Tonight, the rematch. The Clippers will be looking to dig deep to compete with the two-time defending Southwest Division leading 15-6 San Antonio Spurs after being humbled by them four short days ago in Texas 111-82. Since that time Los Angeles managed to notch it's tenth win of the season and first triumph on the road Saturday night 89-82 at Memphis to improve to 10-9.

L.A.'s attempt to redeem itself tonight (7:30pm opening tip at Staples Center) may come without the services of center Chris Kaman (flu-like symptoms) and slashing sixth man Corey Maggette (bruised left knee) who are both questionable.

The Spurs are reasonably healthy but coming off of a surprising 106-99 loss at Staples Center last night to the Lakers. San Antonio has been vulnerable playing the second night of back to back sequences, posting a 2-3 record in such circumstances.

In the initial meeting with the Clippers last Friday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio the Spurs never trailed, built a lead as large as 37 points, out-rebounded L.A. 44-35, outassisted the Clippers 31-17, knocked down 10 three pointers and completely had their way enroute to the rout.

While the Clips did a decent job of keeping Spurs blur-quick point guard Tony Parker from scoring in bunches breaking them down on dribble penetration (he managed 9 points), he was content to facilitate the offense without putting up a big individual scoring number registering a career high 15 assists.

Los Angeles figures to take a similar defensive approach into the game, converging on Parker to keep him from the rim with an emphasis on crisper defensive rotations to get to perimeter shooters.

Offensively, the Clippers weren't able to establish an inside game early as Chris Kaman made just 5-14 shots, Elton Brand 4-11. That must change tonight in order to open up mid-range shooting opportunities for Sam Cassell, Cuttino Mobley and Shaun Livingston.


:: Sam Cassell to build upon his 18 point Saturday night outburst at Memphis with a strong scoring effort against San Antonio. Cassell was limited to 9 minutes of playing time Friday at San Antonio as the game got completely out of control by the second half, scoring just 2 points on 1-4 shooting. He'll be intent upon leading his club at the offensive end of the floor in this game with more of a burden on his shoulders to do so if the club's without Kaman or Maggette.

:: Elton Brand to be far more energized than the player that managed just 10 points and a season low 3 rebounds in the first meeting with the Spurs. E.B. is scoring the ball at a very high level in the stretch of the past four games (25ppg) and should have ample opportunity to do damage tonight as the Spurs rarely double team down low as they play a more conventional 'stick with your man' defense that demands individual accountability of their players. Brand must also deliver a more robust effort on the boards if the Clippers are to even the score San Antonio in this one.

:: Spurs swing men Manu Ginobili and Brent Barry to serve as swing factors in this game. In the initial meeting on Friday the duo combined for 38 points on a collective 13-17 shooting (7-10 from three point range). Both are adept offensively. Ginobili a penetrating force that's equally capable to drilling long rangers. Barry, for the most part, a spot up dead eye marksman from three point land. The Clippers must find a way to offset their productivity, either minimizing it defensively or getting big scoring efforts from a number of guys on their bench to negate the Ginobili-Barry tandem.

:: Los Angeles to do a better job of getting back to force the Spurs to earn their points with half court execution than it did in losing by 29 points on Friday. In that contest the Clippers were outscored 18-2 in fast break points. A duplication of those numbers will bring a similar fate for L.A. in this game. The Clips will do a much better job of stopping the Spurs from running on their home floor.


The Clippers players seemed to be in agreement off of their Friday experience in San Antonio that yes they could have played better, but at the moment the Spurs are the better team. That thought process needs to be put aside if L.A.'s to rise up and pull the surprised tonight at Staples Center.

The Spurs are an outstanding TEAM at both ends of the floor. The Clippers need to play TEAM basketball themselves tonight to persevere. That means sharing the ball and notching 20 plus assists, collectively going to the boards to at least hold their own on the glass, and maintaining floor balance in transitioning from offense to defense to keep Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili from destroying them in the open court.

The Spurs have age issues with a number of key players. Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, Brent Barry, Robert Horry and Tim Duncan are all 30 plus years of age and less effectively collectively the second night of back to backs than they are with time off before playing.

If the Clippers come with force early, play as a unit throughout and get the home crowd on their side they have a legitimate shot to get even with the Spurs on this night. But it will take all of that in order to get that job done.





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Five Things to Know About the San Antonio Spurs

Tim Duncan concentrated on swimming as a youngster. At one point he was a top U.S. competitor in his age group in the 400 freestyle, before his local pool was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Duncan admits to being afraid of heights and sharks.

When Tony Parker played with San Antonio against the Los Angeles Clippers on November 30, 2001, he became the third French player ever to play in an NBA game.

While Michael Finley was on the Dallas Mavericks, he appeared on an episode of MTV’s Punk’d where Dirk Nowitzki was asked to autograph Lakers hats and a LeBron James jersey by a pushy fan.

Until he entered the NBA, Brent Barry regularly shot his free throws underhanded as his father, Rick, did.

im just hoping we dont have a repeat of last night

On one hand I think the Spurs will be mad about losing to the Lakers, on the other it is game two of a back to back which typically does not bode well for our Spurs.

This one is up in the air for me.

Who will show up? The team that smacked the Clippers down only a few days ago or the one that laid a big stinky egg last night?

Aww man... a back to back...
How often is it that they lose BOTH games of a back-to-back?

I'm thinking the Spurs are gonna win this one though .... *crosses fingers*

was elson in the starting lineup tonight, that is what it looks like from the yahoo boxscore

anyone know why roho isnt playing - misti jstu text paged me asking and I have nio clue

i was wondering the same about Horry. and ace, yeah Elson started.

im so happy the Spurs are playing so much better...but there is still another half to go

horry was hurt last night right?
anyway love to play the clipps!

beat 'em. woo hoo!