Clippers get routed by visiting San Antonio with Parker dominating the game (2/13)
The San Antonio Spurs came into LA to visit the Clippers on February 21st with a mission destroying the home team 116-90. They Spurs manhandled the Clippers led by All Star point guard Tony Parker who had 31 points & 7 assists in only 28 minutes to dominate the game and match-up with Chris Paul, who had 4 points and 3 assists in 27 minutes. It was an all around blowout as the Spurs were up by over 30 points in the second half and even played without starting small forward Kawhi Leonard. They didn’t need him as their well-balanced team and deep bench outplayed the home Clips in every way. San Antonio shot 59% for the game including 8-17 in three point shots. Matt Barnes led the home team with 18 while Blake Griffin had 17 but the Spurs defense along with Parker were way too much.
Behind Coach Greg Popovich, San Antonio is my pick to win it all over Miami this year as they have it all plus Tim Duncan is playing great ball. Popovich said it was a rare game where his team played so good while the Clippers played so bad. Parker is having perhaps his best NBA season and they have so many role players and veterans. He is in the discussion for MVP honors with Paul (recently voted MVP of the All Star Game), Lebron James and Kevin Durant with James as the favorite again. The Clips had a 4 game winning streak snapped and were coming off a great blowout of the Lakers.
Now that they have all their players back from injuries including Grant Hill and Chauncey Billups, they have no excuses but seemed out of it vs. San Antonio. Los Angeles had an off night but still have the chemistry and depth to make a deep run this season. Only Oklahoma City and San Antonio have a better record in the West. Coach Vinnie Del Negro just has to figure out how to keep everyone happy with minutes and have the team play at a high level vs. the top teams. The Spurs and Clippers have to be the two deepest teams in the NBA with both of them going 10-11+ on rotation and in depth. They couldn’t get any easy baskets and lob city was shut down. Next up for LA are the Utah Jazz, the#7 team in the playoff hunt at this time. More at www.clippers.com