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lol it says kickoff starts at 8:30
Edit: Game starts at 9:30 CST.
San Antonio (1-1) at LA Clippers (0-3)
TV: FSSW, FSPT
Kickoff: 10:30 pm EDT Mon Nov 1, 2010
By Santosh Venkataraman
The Los Angeles Clippers have lost 16 straight games against the San Antonio Spurs. They’re hoping that will change now that Blake Griffin is on the court.
Griffin will face Tim Duncan and the Spurs for the first time Monday night when the Clippers try to avoid a third straight 0-4 start.
San Antonio (1-1) hasn’t lost to Los Angeles (0-3) since falling 98-85 on March 7, 2006. The Spurs have won 24 of the last 25 meetings, including the last eight at Staples Center.
Duncan has usually had his way against the Clippers, although the 34-year-old has seen his minutes drop in recent seasons since coach Gregg Popovich has chosen to give him extra rest. This will be his first matchup with the 21-year-old Griffin, who was drafted first overall in 2009 - 12 years after Duncan was chosen by the Spurs.
Griffin missed all of last season with a knee injury, but has looked healthy now that his rookie season has finally gotten underway. He fell just short of his third straight double-double to start his career with 16 points and nine rebounds in Sunday’s 99-83 home loss to Dallas.
He was the Clippers’ leading scorer as the backcourt of Baron Davis and Eric Gordon struggled to combine for 16 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
“We got down offensively and didn’t make shots, which affected our defense,” Davis said.
Los Angeles is the worst shooting team in the NBA at 37.7 percent, and has put up plenty of 3-pointers with at least 18 in every game. The Clippers are adjusting to a new offense under coach Vinny Del Negro.
“Our tempo has to pick up. I don’t like our tempo right now,” said Del Negro, who was fired by Chicago in May after two straight .500 seasons. “We have to push the ball a little bit more and get more field goal attempts. We have to get the ball in the attack some more, then get into play sets and set up screens and be more efficient with our timing and execution.”
Popovich is very familiar with Del Negro having coached the guard for many years with San Antonio. The Clippers’ woeful offense may be exactly what the Spurs need to see.
San Antonio has been one of the top defensive teams in the NBA since the arrival of Duncan, but has allowed its first two opponents to shoot 51.6 percent. The Spurs allowed New Orleans to shoot 50.0 percent in Saturday’s 99-90 home loss.
“It’s always my No. 1 concern,” said Popovich about his team’s defense. “If we win 10 in a row or lose 10 in a row, it’s always a major concern.”
Duncan had seven points and seven rebounds while Tony Parker had 13 points and four assists. Their lack of production was a major reason why Popovich benched both of the stars for most of the fourth quarter.
“In 82 games, sometimes you are going to have a night off where the second unit comes in, plays better and Pop adjusts and sticks with it,” said Manu Ginobili, who scored 23 points. “What made it tough was that it was both Tim and Tony out.”
*********************
Team Stat Leaders
Points
Manu Ginobili SA 22.5
Eric Gordon LAC 20.5
Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 9.5
Blake Griffin LAC 12.0
Assists
Tony Parker SA 6.5
Baron Davis LAC 5.5
*********************
Injuries
San Antonio
M Bonner Ankle
L.A. Clippers
R Foye Hamstring
Last edited by duncan228; 10-31-2010 at 08:33 PM.
lol it says kickoff starts at 8:30
Thanks for the catch.Don't know why, but a couple national releases have the time wrong. First post edited.
lol i was referring to "kickoff". didnt know the time was wrong. thanks duncan228
That worked out well.
Damn, three time zones makes me nuts. The NBA uses EST. I try to use CST here cause that's where the team is based. I'm in Southern California. I got confused when you said 8:30.
The original is right.
10:30 EST
9:30 CST
7:30 PST
That is wrong, it's EDT/CDT/PDT.Damn, three time zones makes me nuts. The NBA uses EST. I try to use CST here cause that's where the team is based. I'm in Southern California. I got confused when you said 8:30.
The original is right.
10:30 EST
9:30 CST
7:30 PST
the West is going to be tough this year. virtually every team is solid. that's why it pises me off that they couldn't get the last game.
if a lot of the stuff from the last game carries over, we will be down 1-3 by the end of the road trip, which is not good, considering the talent out there.
so is tiago going to play?
you'd hope they win this one
theyve been shooting something like 38 % so if the spurs let the, shoot at 50% i expect to see some concern
If Splitter plays, I'd limit him to 15-20 minutes max...ease him back
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...-clippers-0-3/Monday: Spurs (1-1) at Clippers (0-3)
by Jeff McDonald
Tiago Splitter (strained right plantaris) is questionable.
lol from "probable" to "questionable"
Clippers are gonna give the Spurs a uva game. Should be a fun watch.
http://www.nba.com/news/referee.html
Referee Assignments
Mon. Nov. 1
San Antonio @ L.A. Clippers: Derrick Stafford; Kane Fitzgerald; Zach Zarba
Hey -- it's Pop's guy, Zach Zarba!!
I saw Clippers x Mavs yesterday and the Clippers is damn awful. They can’t shot, their offense is very poor. So far they’re the worst team in the NBA in FG%. If they shoot near 50% tonight I’ll be very worried
Should be an easy when for our guys but they still should not take the clippers lightly.
I'm personally worried about our bigs vs their bigs.
Kaman and Griffin will give Duncan/Blair trouble.
View from the other side.
Clippers vs. San Antonio - Game Preview
by Steve Perrin
Clips Nation
The Back Story:
First meeting of the season. San Antonio swept the season series last year (and the year before that, and the year before that, and...), 4 games to none (and none of them were close).
The Big Picture:
Depending on the year, sometimes the NBA schedule starts in late October, and sometimes it starts in November. The last three seasons, it has started in October, and the Halloween time has been scary for the Clippers - they have zero wins and nine losses in October games over the last three years. In fact, the Clippers, as far as I know, have NEVER won a game in October. They are 0-17 in October games since 1986, the first season for which game data is available. Trick or Treat! So the Clippers are happy to see November on their calendars, but not happy to see the San Antonio Spurs on their schedule. They may have lost 17 straight October contests, but they've also lost 16 straight to the Spurs. If they can't find the basket a little more consistently than they have in their first three games, that Spurs streak is going to grow to 17 as well, and the Clippers will drop to 0-4 on the season.
The Antagonist:
The Spurs have opened the season 1-1, with a home win over the Pacers, and a home loss to the Hornets. The Spurs have been one of the top teams in the league since that fateful year in 1997 when the Clippers made the playoffs with a losing record, while the Spurs missed the playoffs, won the lottery, and drafted Tim Duncan. They haven't missed the playoffs since. Eventually time will catch up with them - Tim Duncan is 34 and Manu Ginobili is 33 - but it hasn't happened yet. They got an infusion of youth on their front line recently, with second round steal DeJuan Blair joining the team last season, and EuroLeague star Tiago Splitter coming in this year. Splitter has missed the first two games with a sore calf, but is expected to make his NBA debut against the Clippers tonight. The Spurs seem committed to their big three strategy, despite their advancing ages - Ginobili signed a three year extension in April, and Parker signed a four year extension a few days ago.
The Subplots
16 straight losses. The Clippers history of futility against the Spurs is mind-numbing. They've lost 16 straight. They've lost 24 of the last 25. Chris Kaman is 2-24 in his NBA career against them, winning his first ever game against San Antonio as a rookie, and winning only a single time since. It goes without saying that no other player on the current roster has ever beaten the Spurs as a Clipper. It doesn't get much better for guys on other teams either. Baron Davis is 4-20 against the Spurs in his career. Ryan Gomes has never beaten them.
Spurs mystique. It seemingly doesn't matter who plays for the Spurs where the Clippers are involved. A couple years ago when a bunch of their starters were hurt, Roger Mason Jr. beat them with a buzzer beating three. In pre-season in Mexico City, the Clippers outplayed the Spurs starters, but lost on a last second three by Gary Neal, whoever that is. (Actually, Neal was on the Clippers' Summer League team in Las Vegas this summer.)
First overall pick. The Clippers can only hope that Blake Griffin will be anything like Duncan has been for the Spurs. The Clippers made the playoffs with a losing record in 1997, while the Spurs, with David Robinson injured most of the season, had a terrible season and missed the playoffs. They were rewarded with a lottery win and a consensus number one pick in Duncan. Griffin was also a consensus first pick, and will hopefully have a similar impact on his team.
Getting Kaman Going. It's amazing how futile Chris Kaman has been on offense, particularly when you consider how sharp he was in the pre-season. His midrange game was simply automatic before the season began - it's been essentially useless since. He made only 5 of 15 shots Sunday against the Mavs - and that actually helped his season percentage, which is now approaching 30%.
Eric Gordon's Three Point Shooting. After earning a spot on Team USA as their three point specialist, Eric Gordon has started the NBA season ice cold from deep. He's taken 18 three pointers on the season, but made only 3 of them. Perhaps more disconcerting than the misses themselves is the way he's been missing - he's been short on most of his attmpts, sometimes significantly so, barely grazing the rim. The entire team has been terrible from deep - 14 for 57, which is under 25% - but it starts with Gordon. With Griffin and Kaman attracting attention in the post, the Clippers must be able to hit perimeter shots to be effective.
Foye out. Randy Foye strained his hamstring on Saturday and will be out for a week or two. Sunday against the Mavs, Eric Bledsoe and Al-Farouq Aminu got their first taste of meaningful NBA minutes, and you can expect that they'll both play again tonight. Craig Smith played against the Mavs, but we'll see how his back is feeling for a back to back.
And now for the good news. Actually, there is no good news. The Clippers showed some encouraging signs in the first game against Portland, but they really haven't done much of anything well this season. They aren't playing particularly good defense, they're shooting atrociously, they're not rebounding very well, and they're not shooting free throws well (though they were a little better against Dallas). Other than that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
Superstar for one game: Tiago Splitter. I guarantee you that Splitter will have an NBA career high in this game.
Famous Quotation:
Now spurs the lated traveller apace-William Shakespeare - Macbeth. Act III Scene 3.
To gain the timely inn.
Get the Spurs perspective at Pounding the Rock.
Not a preview, but a nice piece on Griffin.
Griffin flushes pain of last season
By Marc J. Spears
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...clippers110110
Eh. This would be a good time for Blair to pull his head out of his ass and give Griffin all he can handle. I'm not to worried about Duncan/Kaman. If Splitter can play some solid minutes the Spurs should be alright. It's Jordan that concerns me.
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