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The struggling Los Angeles Clippers head to Texas on Sunday evening to take on the San Antonio Spurs. The Clippers have lost their last five and have been beaten by a combined 38 points in their last two outings against the Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors. The Spurs on the other hand are returning home after a short two game road trip in which they won both games against the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Spurs now sit at 27-20 and hold down the #5 spot in the Western Conference.
Clippers Struggles Continue
The Los Angeles Clippers are mired in their worst losing streak of the season, one that has seen them fall out of the current playoff picture in the West. The loss against Golden State sent them to 24-21 and currently a half game back of their in-town rival Lakers for the final spot in the Western Conference playoff picture. The Clippers will be looking to right the ship on the road in San Antonio and will need to get back to scoring points the way they were earlier in the season to do so. Against Golden State, the Clippers managed just 94 points, hardly enough to compete with the defending champs. In that game, the Clippers shot just 35% from the field and were an abysmal 4/25 from three point range. Los Angeles is a top-10 team in the league in both field goal and three point percentage and will not hesitate to launch the long jumpers. When they do not fall, five game losing streaks are commonplace.
Spurs Looking to Keep up Dominance
San Antonio currently holds a 2-1 edge on the Clippers in head to head match ups this season and these games have shown off the star prowess of Lamarcus Aldridge. In the two wins for the Spurs over the Clippers, Aldridge has averaged 33 points on over 70% shooting from the field. The method to the Spurs success (not surprisingly under Pop) has been their willingness to work for high percentage shots and ball security. On the year, the Spurs are top-5 in the league in field goal percentage, #1 in three point percentage, and lead the league in fewest turnovers per game. Despite the 27-20 record and the current #5 seed in the West, there is little room for error for the Spurs as merely 2.5 games separate the #3 seed to being out of the playoffs completely. Each win is extremely important for the Spurs, especially home games against inferior opponents.
The Clippers are really reeling right now and head to San Antonio looking for answers. The answers are simple: they just need to shoot the ball better. As we have seen, when they fill it up, they can beat anyone but when they go cold, they struggle to remain competitive. San Antonio plays a style that will limit the Clippers possessions, so each shot needs to be taken with confidence. Los Angeles simply does not have that right now. Look for the Spurs to dispatch the Clippers with a 7-10 point win.
