Spurs vs. Clippers Betting Line February 18
Carrie Stroup here with your Spurs vs. Clippers betting line for Thursday night. San Antonio -4.5, Total: 205.5
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (45-8) at LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (35-18)
San Antonio -4.5, Total: 205.5
The Spurs will be going for their seventh straight victory when they face the Clippers in Los Angeles on Thursday.
San Antonio was playing extremely well heading into the All-Star break, winning six straight games and shooting 51% or better from the field in four of those contests. The Spurs have been a force offensively all season and they’ll need to get right back to that on Thursday.
The Clippers faced the Celtics in Boston in their final game before the break and lost 139-134 in overtime. Prior to that loss, Los Angeles had won three straight games. One issue is that the Clippers allowed the Celtics to shoot 49.5% from the field and they will need to clean things up before facing the Spurs.
These teams have already met once this season and the Spurs won that game 115-107 as a 7.5-point home favorite. The Clippers are, however, 6-4 SU in their past 10 games against the Spurs and they also eliminated San Antonio from the postseason a year ago.
A few trends worth noting in this game are that the Spurs are 8-1 SU and 6-3 ATS versus Pacific division opponents this season. San Antonio also happens to be an impressive 15-10 ATS when playing on the road this season.
The Spurs were hot heading into the break and their veterans should be a bit refreshed after getting some extra rest. One player who badly needed it was PG Tony Parker (12.0 PPG, 5.1 APG), who is dealing with a sprained ankle at the moment. Parker is crucial for the Spurs and he’ll especially be needed on Thursday. San Antonio will be facing Chris Paul and Parker is the only guy on the team that is capable of hanging with the Clippers’ star. Parker had 21 points and three assists in 31 minutes of action the last time he faced Los Angeles this season and it would be a major hit for San Antonio if he can’t play.
SF Kawhi Leonard (20.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.8 SPG) and PF LaMarcus Aldridge (17.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.0 BPG) were both Western Conference All-Stars, but both are young enough to be avoiding fatigue at this point in their careers. San Antonio is going to need big games from them and it should really get one from Aldridge. He dominated the Clippers earlier in the season, finishing with 26 points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes of action in that win for the Spurs. With Blake Griffin out, the Spurs will need to pound away with Aldridge inside. Leonard will just need to knock down some outside shots and play his usual brand of physical defense.
The Clippers have managed to continue playing well even without Griffin and they’ll be looking to make a statement by defeating the Spurs on Thursday. If that is going to happen then PG Chris Paul (19.3 PPG, 9.4 APG, 2.1 SPG) is going to have to play out of his mind.
Paul was dominant in the loss to the Celtics, finishing with 35 points and 13 assists in 48 minutes of action. He also had no problem putting up numbers against the Spurs earlier in the year, ending that contest with 27 points and 10 assists. He’ll need to have a similar performance on Thursday, but Paul must also do a better job of shutting down Tony Parker.
SG J.J. Redick (16.4 PPG) will also be counted on to provide a serious scoring punch in this one. Redick had 27 points in a loss to the Celtics before the break and that gave him 20 or more points in three of the four games before the break as well. He has been shooting the ball extremely well this season, knocking down 47.6% of his shots from the outside. Los Angeles will need to continue to run plays to free him up, and he could be in for a big game against the Spurs at home.
C DeAndre Jordan (12.1 PPG, 14.0 RPG, 2.3 BPG) is going to need to have a big game as well. Jordan will likely see plenty of time guarding Aldridge in this one and he can’t afford to let the Spurs’ big man go off. Jordan was averaging 14.4 PPG, 16.2 RPG and 2.8 BPG in the five games before the break and the Clippers will need more of the same moving forward.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
