The Clippers have lost so many times to the Spurs, and usually in such embarrassing fashion, that only being down 10 entering the fourth quarter, forcing Messieurs Duncan and Parker and Ginobili to actually exert effort after 9:30 PM, is a major accomplishment. Especially considering that LA was playing with their third string point guard.
Taking advantage of the ossifying-before-our-eyes Antonio McDyess, Blake Griffin flew straight to the rim on a couple of occasions. The Spurs played off of Blake, as all teams are going to do until he learns to hit a 17 footer, but it surprisingly didn’t seem to matter. Even giving him a wide cushion, McDyess was too slow to stay in front of him.
Looking at the box score, you would think it would have been close. The Clippers outrebounded the Spurs 40-39, and enjoyed a 10 to 7 advantage on the offensive glass. They turned the ball over one fewer time than San Antonio. They made the same number of field goals. They took one more free throw.
The Spurs dominated with stellar perimeter play, every time the Clippers made a little run there would be three from Manu, Richard Jefferson or Gary Neal. Those three and Tony Parker, he of the $50 million contract extesion (sic), combined for 67 points. Tim Duncan finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds but was no where near as tough a cover as he was even last year.
It was troubling that the solid play didn’t result in a halftime lead even though the Clippers looked active, enthused and they kept Tim Duncan to 4 points on 2-6 shooting. Even with Ginobili and Parker playing well, you shouldn’t expect to be down unless those two were dominating and they weren’t. Parker had 13 and Ginobili had 11. The surprise that made up for Duncan’s absence was Gary Neal, he of the preseason dagger three in Mexico City (if there is such thing as a preseason dagger). Neal scored 16 points in 18 minutes, many on momentum swinging shots.
The second half didn’t bode any better for the Clippers who continually let the lead grow and grow until they lost 97-88. It was simple and gradual and incredibly infuriating, like Chinese water torture. The Spurs kept making shots, Tim Duncan decided to make an appearance in the late third quarter and fourth even though he wasn’t operating much from that extended elbow area that he normally likes.
ClipperBlog.com (“Continuity and Corporate Knowledge – The Clippers and the Spurs“):
With three straight stomach-churning losses to open the season, the last team the Clippers want to see tonight is probably the San Antonio Spurs. Asides from the fact that they’ve lost sixteen straight games to San Antonio, the Spurs franchise embodies a no-frills, quiet professionalism, that stands in stark contrast to the Clippers organization. The Spurs are an old team, and the reign of Tim Duncan is slowly coming to a close. But they are a team that has a clear understanding of who they are; as a franchise, as a unit on the floor, and as individuals, and that makes them dangerous to a Clippers team that is searching for an identity, and is teetering on despair.
