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I will be at this game for my birthday! Wooooo
Game is Wednesday 9:30 CST.
San Antonio (15-2) at LA Clippers (3-15)
Tipoff: 10:30 pm EST Wed Dec 1, 2010
TV: FSSW, FSPT
By Matt Beardmore
The San Antonio Spurs are off to the best road start in franchise history, and a matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers gives them a great chance to extend that mark.
The NBA-leading Spurs go for their 10th straight victory at Los Angeles and their 19th in a row overall in this matchup series on Wednesday night when the teams conclude their season series.
San Antonio (15-2) improved to 8-0 on the road for the first time with Tuesday’s 118-98 victory over Golden State. Leading scorer Manu Ginobili had 27 points and Tim Duncan recorded his first regular-season triple-double since March 14, 2003, against the Clippers by scoring 15 with 18 rebounds and a career high-tying 11 assists.
His last triple-double came in Game 5 of the 2008 Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers
“I couldn’t make a shot so I figured I’d pass it and let somebody else make a shot,” said Duncan, who missed 9 of 15 shots on Tuesday. “I wasn’t trying to do it. Just the flow of the game and the plays that were being called.”
Duncan and the Spurs, winners of 14 of 15, are seeking their third victory over the Clippers (3-15) in 2010-11, and fifth straight season sweep of this matchup.
After posting a 97-88 victory at Los Angeles on Nov. 1, the Spurs won their 18th straight over the Clippers, 107-95 in San Antonio on Nov. 10 behind 22 points apiece from Ginobili and Richard Jefferson.
Los Angeles was without Chris Kaman (sprained left ankle), Baron Davis (sore left knee) and Eric Gordon (shoulder) in that matchup, and it will likely be working with a short bench again.
Kaman is likely to miss his 11th straight game, while Davis remains day-to-day after sitting the last 10.
Without two of its top players, coach Vinny Del Negro’s team has leaned heavily on Gordon, who is averaging a career-best 24.3 points, and rookie Blake Griffin, one of three players averaging more than 20 points and 11 rebounds.
“My teammates have done a good job of getting me the ball … when I don’t have something, I know I can kick it out,” Griffin said after posting his fifth straight double-double with 35 points with 14 rebounds and seven assists in Sunday’s 109-97 loss to Utah.
Griffin has scored 28 points and grabbed 16 boards in the two games versus San Antonio.
While Gordon and Griffin have carried the team on the offensive end, the Clippers remain one of the league’s worst defensive squads, giving up 105.1 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting.
“We have to do a better job defensively, no question,” Del Negro, who played for San Antonio from 1992-98 said. “Since Day 1, that’s been one of our talking points … We just have to keep working at it to give ourselves more of a chance.”
Slowing down Ginobili, though, could be a tall order for Gordon and rookie point guard Eric Bledsoe. Ginobili is scoring 26.4 points per game - 4.5 more than his season average - in the last five, hitting 51.3 percent from the floor during that stretch.
Ginobili averaged 18.0 points on 52.6 percent shooting in the two victories against the Clippers last month.
Los Angeles’ last win versus San Antonio was 98-85 at home on March 7, 2006.
*********************
Team Stat Leaders
Points
Manu Ginobili SA 21.9
Eric Gordon LAC 24.2
Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 9.7
Blake Griffin LAC 11.6
Assists
Tony Parker SA 7.3
Eric Gordon LAC 4.9
I will be at this game for my birthday! Wooooo
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...clippers-3-15/Wednesday: Spurs (15-2) at Clippers (3-15)
Jeff McDonald
...Spurs have won 18 in a row against Clippers, a streak dating to March 7, 2006. It is the longest active winning streak vs. one opponent in the NBA.
clippers are stronger than when they last met the spurs. griffin has been in beast mode for a while now. still, if the spurs play good defense, no reason why it should not be a blowout.
Easy win, next
Just don't let Brian Cook go Darko on us.
Doesnt eva live in LA?
Uhh what?
On a b2b playing on a road against athletic team that had 2 days off.
Griffin now plays fantastic and he will be pissed because of the way they lost to Utah. Also there is a backcourt guy like gordon. We always had problems with guys like this.
"Trap game."
From what I saw the last game they are pretty damn good regardless of their record. Stay sharp Spurs!
Damn straight.
Eh. Kaman is out and he normally goes 'Darko' on the Spurs. With the shortened Clippers bench, I would expect a steady diet of the entire Spurs team to wear them down to about a 14 pt lead by the 4th quarter. If the guys stay focused...
we own the clippers, end of story.
http://www.nba.com/news/referee.html
Referee Assignments
Wed. Dec. 1
San Antonio @ L.A. Clippers: Bob Delaney; Rodney Mott; Violet Palmer
Advanced Scouting: San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers
by Scott Sereday
48 Minutes of
http://www.48minutesof .com/advan...ppers-12-01-10
Coach says Baron Davis will face Spurs … maybe
Point guard has played only 10 minutes since October, but Vinny Del Negro is optimistic. Chris Kaman still is not ready to return.
By Lisa Dillman
LA Times
Bodies, especially ones in motion, don't heal on schedule.
Which is why Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro is usually reluctant to circle a date on the calendar, projecting the return of any of his legions of injured players.
Thanksgiving had been loosely discussed as a possible return date for injured point guard Baron Davis. But that day passed and the Thanksgiving leftovers are long gone.
So it was a bit surprising when Del Negro answered the (almost) daily question about injuries, saying Tuesday: "Baron will play tomorrow."
Davis last played significant minutes a month ago and fell by the wayside with an injured left knee, save for a 10-minute cameo at New Orleans on Nov. 9.
His return to the lineup has been a moving target. So maybe that's why Del Negro clarified things a couple of seconds later about the possibility of Davis playing against San Antonio on Wednesday.
"I should say this: I want to see how Baron feels [Wednesday] after today's practice … and I'll make that decision," he said, noting it was the first practice Davis had gone full out in a long time.
Players aren't the best judges of projecting a return from injury, either. Center Chris Kaman, who has been out three weeks because of a sprained left ankle, had first hoped to return Thanksgiving and then Wednesday against the Spurs. That won't be happening.
"Overly optimistic would be the perfect definition of Chris," Del Negro said.
"He's sick of talking about it and he wants to be out there. But he's got to work through it so he can move a bit better."
Etc.
At least the Clippers had enough players to scrimmage, unlike Monday. Reserve big man Jarron Collins returned, a day after his daughter Valentina was born. "You realized how blessed you are," said Collins, who reported that mother and daughter were resting comfortably.
Guard Randy Foye (strained left hamstring) did not practice, as expected.
Del Negro spoke about the increased options once the injured guards and Kaman get healthy.
"With Eric Gordon and [Eric] Bledsoe and Randy Foye, when he's healthy, and Baron Davis, we can play a three-guard [lineup] and have a little different look," Del Negro said.
"We haven't even had a chance to do that since day one because of all the things we've been dealing with."
Blake Griffin has made the Clippers (yes, those Clippers) trendy
Kurt Helin
A couple weeks ago, Denver’s J.R. Smith popped up on twitter and asked if Blake Griffin was playing that night because he wanted to watch.
He’s not alone — players around NBA locker rooms are talking about Griffin with an awe of his athleticism usually reserved for guys named LeBron. And count LeBron James in the group in awe — this is what he tweeted recently.
“Man Blake Griffin is the most explosive player in the league! Crazy bounce”
And Shaq is in the club.
Blake griffin is n my top 2 power forwards in da league, he is like kemp chuck. (Referring to Shawn Kemp and Charles Barkley.)
And it goes on and on. There is a buzz around Clippers games right now — in the building, around the league. Griffin is walking highlight reel. This for the team with the worst record in the league (3-15). As bad as they are, the Clippers are hot.
Because of Griffin, because of his frenetic and athletic play. Already he is out front early in the Rookie of the Year campaign. After missing a season due to knee surgery, he has come back as strong as ever and is turning heads everywhere.
Well, not Timofey Mozgov’s head, that Griffin just went over the top of.
Griffin seems unaffected by it all, he seems uncomfortable talking about himself as a star or attraction. He just wants to play because he loves to play.
“I’m having a blast,” he said after a recent game. “Just happy to be playing.”
The spectacular dunks are drawing the raves, but what makes Griffin truly impressive is his game is well rounded. He is an elite rebounder (grabbing nearly 20 percent of the available rebounds when he is on the floor). He is hitting 47.8 percent of his shots from 10-15 feet out. He is very effective setting high picks and is shooting 64 percent when he gets the ball back in that situation (he and Eric Gordon have a nice pick-and-roll chemistry). He’s good if you just lob the ball into him in the post.
Blake Griffin is no one-trick pony. Tune in to see the dunks, come away realizing the guy can just play the game.
After sitting in a suit on the sidelines for a season, he said he feels it is different inside Staples Center this season, that there is a buzz about the team. There is a real sense of hope and optimism.
One that will die if the Clippers keep losing at this rate — and Griffin gets that.
“We’ve got to reward the fans,” Griffin said. “People aren’t going to keep coming if we keep losing. But it will come, it’s just a matter of time, just a matter of really coming together.”
Until they come together, at least tune in for the dunks.
and this
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