San Antonio at Los Angeles, Final Score: Spurs lose 111-116 in hard-fought match-up with the Clippers

Spurs go 0-3 on three-game road trip.

A scrappy game where both sides alternately scored easily and fell into scoring droughts ended with the Clippers sneaking away with a win off a costly turnover by the Spurs at the very end.

Roundup:

Unlike last night, the Spurs came out tonight with more bounce and kept up with the Clippers for most of the game. Certainly the Spurs’ recent struggles can be attributed to DeMar DeRozan’s and LaMarcus Aldridge’s recent shooting slumps. Fortunately DeRozan found a groove again as he was more aggressive on offense. Aldridge continued to struggle with his shot, but he found other ways to contribute as always.

The two teams traded several extended runs throughout the night. Los Angeles held the lead for most of the night and seemingly kept San Antonio at arm’s length. The Clippers controlled the flow for much of the game, but the Spurs were able to pull close by tightening up their defense. In the end, though, a rare turnover at the worst time possible cost the Spurs a chance to steal the game.

Aimless Observations:

  • If it seems like the Spurs have been playing super young teams in their last few games, they have. However, the Clippers and the Spurs are uniquely similar in that they both have undergone a complete retooling of their roster this season after years of high playoff expectations.
  • Rudy Gay continues to show how important he is to the team when he is available.
  • They should name the Sixth Man of the Year award after Manu Ginobili and then give it to Lou Williams this season.
  • DeMar DeRozan came out in attack mode and carried the Spurs’ offense with most possessions being run through him.
  • Gay didn’t want DeRozan to have all the style points tonight (see DmDr’s 360 layup) so he unfurled a smooth finger roll of his own in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, he left for the locker room shortly thereafter only to finish out the game watching from the bench.
  • The Clippers are the real deal (I sense a common theme for a lot of these Western Conference teams that came into the season with low expectations) despite flying under the radar by city of L.A. standards. They are deep and have a lot of talented scorers.
  • San Antonio’s brutal schedule continues as the next five games will be very difficult. Here’s hoping that the defense can find some consistency and Aldridge can find some offensive consistency.

Tune In Next Time, Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel:

San Antonio comes home to face the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, November 19 at 6:00 PM CDT.

Source: Pounding The Rock

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