Clippers at Spurs
The Los Angeles Clippers just suffered their worst loss of the season
against one of the NBA's best teams and now face another top-tier squad
when they visit the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday. The Clippers were
drilled 114-90 by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday and now open a
five-game road trip against the Spurs, who have won 41 consecutive home
games.
San Antonio is 32-0 at home this season after delivering a 93-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. "We're a humble ball club," All-Star small forward Kawhi Leonard said after scoring 26 points against the Thunder. "We just want to get better as each game goes and as the season goes on. So it doesn't matter who we are playing. It's just about us." Los Angeles will have to compete harder than it did against Cleveland, when it jumped out to an early 10-point lead before folding. "We should have more pride," center DeAndre Jordan told reporters. "We started out the game great, but there was no fight once they punched back."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (42-23): The one bright spot against Cleveland was the return of power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who missed the previous five games after suffering a lacerated eyelid against the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 29. When he was injured, Mbah a Moute raced straight to the locker room in fear that his eye had been knocked out and he will be wearing protective goggles for a yet to be determined time period. "I know he's been wearing them on and off," Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said. "I don't know if he's comfortable with them. My guess is if he plays well with them, they stay. If he feels like he's struggling with them, they'll probably come off during the game."
ABOUT THE SPURS (56-10): San Antonio's homecourt winning streak is the third longest in NBA history and the victory over the Thunder marked the 20th time this season the Spurs have held a team to 85 or fewer points. San Antonio remains in close proximity to the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors but coach Gregg Popovich maintains he's not concerned about the victory count. "I think it's important to be playing teams that you'll probably be playing in the playoffs at some point," Popovich told reporters. "It's kind of like a final exam, in a way, where you see you still have time to improve some things. But it's about how you play - not the win or the loss, really. If we win, we won't be that excited. If we lose, we won't be that depressed."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers and Spurs split the first two meetings this season with the home team winning each time.
2. Los Angeles SF Paul Pierce (toe) hopes to return after missing the past two games.
3. San Antonio set an NBA record by recording its 51st consecutive victory when shooting a higher field-goal percentage than the opponent, breaking the mark of the 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers.