Clippers at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are off to the best home start in franchise
history and look to keep the record intact when they host the Los
Angeles Clippers on Friday. San Antonio cruised to a 114-95 victory over
the Washington Wizards on Wednesday to set the team mark with a 14-0
home start and also established another record with its 23rd straight
home win dating back to last season.
The Spurs have been dominating over their last four games, winning the contests by an average of 25.8 points. Small forward Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points against the Wizards and is averaging 23.7 points on 23-of-38 shooting over the past three games. The Clippers posted a 103-90 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday for their ninth victory in 11 games. Point guard Chris Paul had 21 points and eight assists in the contest, and the 20-point outing is his first since Nov. 29.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), CW35
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (16-10): Small forward Paul Pierce plays a small role for the Clippers but became only the 16th player in NBA history to reach 26,000 career points in the win over Milwaukee. Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers saw a lot of those points firsthand when they were both with the Boston Celtics. "Paul is just special," Rivers told reporters. "He frustrated me when I coached against him, because I didn't see the athleticism. It used to drive me crazy. I think Paul has scored most of his points from fundamentals. Every kid should watch his footwork - and he's still beating guys off the dribble."
ABOUT THE SPURS (22-5): Point guard Tony Parker had 10 assists against Washington for his first double-digit assist outing of the season while veteran backup shooting guard Manu Ginobili also dished out a season-best eight assists. "Tony and Manu were superlative," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "Between them they had 18 (assists) so they were great at the offensive end of the court." The Spurs are averaging 111 points during a four-game winning streak and have topped 100 points in seven of the past eight contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers are just 10-67 in the regular season at San Antonio but won two playoff games at the AT&T Center last season while eliminating the Spurs in a seven-game first-round series.
2. San Antonio C Tim Duncan was rested against Washington.
3. Los Angeles SG J.J. Redick has made 11 3-pointers while averaging 21.3 points over the past three games.