The San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers both look to return to their winning ways when they square off on Wednesday in a Western Conference battle in the Alamo City.
Wednesday’s clash will be the start of a three-game homestand for the Spurs and the second meeting of a four-game road trip for the Clippers that will continue in Charlotte on Friday and end in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.
Los Angeles has won just twice in its past five games, with the most recent outing a 111-109 setback in Phoenix on Monday. The Clippers charged back from 11 points down with 2:43 to play, pulling within a point on Norman Powell’s floater with 40.4 seconds remaining. However, the Suns made their free throws in the final seconds and held on.
“Our physicality was better in the second half and that allowed us to put ourselves in a position to win at the end,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We just kept fighting, kept fighting and just fell short.”
Ivica Zubac led the Clippers with 25 points and 16 rebounds. James Harden had 24 points, Powell scored 23 and Kawhi Leonard had 17 points in a season-high 28 minutes for Los Angeles.
“Leonard moved slow in the first half, but he picked it up in the third quarter, attacking the basket and getting into his spot,” Lue explained. “It’s going to be a process — just making sure Kawhi feels comfortable and that he trusts it and (we’ll) go from there.”
The Spurs will return to Texas and attempt to snap a three-game home losing streak after splitting a pair of games with Indiana in Paris. The trip began with a successful result — a 140-110 win on Thursday — but ended with a thud, as the Pacers thumped San Antonio 136-98 on Saturday.
Harrison Barnes paced the Spurs with 25 points in the loss while Frenchman Victor Wembanyama added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Stephon Castle scored 17 points, and Chris Paul tallied 11 to go along with eight assists.
San Antonio trailed by 15 points at the break and by 12 after three quarters. It had nothing left in the tank to forge a comeback in the final period.
“It’s a team game, and (there are) going to be games like this,” Paul said of the loss on Saturday. “Games are different from game to game. Every team in this league is always trying to put 48 minutes together. … Until we consistently put it all together, it’s gonna be tough. But we believe we can figure it out.”
The Spurs have lost seven of their past nine outings and, curiously, have struggled when players other than Wembanyama have been asked to carry the offensive load. Over San Antonio’s most recent nine games, the second-year star center has been the team’s leading scorer in just three.
Barnes (twice), Devin Vassell (twice), Castle (once) and Keldon Johnson (once) have led the team in scoring the other six games.
The teams have split their two previous games against each other this season, with both winning at home.
–Field Level Media
