Sometimes Patty Mills is overlooked, but tonight he hit eight three-point shots and led the Teal, Orange and Pink-clad Spurs several times to a big lead. But the Clippers relied on Kawhi Leonard to tackle the offense, and Patrick Beverley recorded one of his best nights as he had to pick up the slack of a missing Paul George. The Clippers closed the score to just two points in the final seconds, but Patty Mills was eclipsed and shot one of the two fouls. The Clippers had one last shot to win it, but a masked Kawhi Leonard could not hit the final blow as the DeMar DeRozan made him take a hard shot and he missed, giving the Spurs a 3 gave point point victory and lost a four-game. .
Observations
- I’m getting too old for the late hint of the west coast. I almost fell asleep before the game started.
- Bill Land called the Clippers Hannibal Leonard # 2 in the preseason, and it’s good to see that I’m not the only one who thought that when I saw that mask.
- LaMarcus Aldridge gets a lot of flakes from fans who think he’s too old and slow to play anymore, but the offense looks a lot more fluid when he’s on the floor.
- Keldon in the mix makes this team so much better. His energy is contagious.
- Vassell learned a little lesson trying to protect Lou Williams as he reached and donated Lou with three free throws.
- Patty Mills outscored the Clippers 10-0 in just over a minute at the end of the first quarter.
- With the exception of Paul George, the Clippers did not have many points other than Kawhi. Their second offensive option among entrees is probably Batum, and he is no longer that good. Patrick Beverley is a tough defender, but he’s not that good at shooting the ball [after I wrote this, he started to illogically hit every shot he took]. Lou Williams is their second best scorer, but they need him on the bench to keep the team in games when the beginners rest.
- This quick bucket from Lonnie Walker IV is everything. It is the dance movement at the end that makes it special.
- Who was that masked man?
- I may be biased, but I think the Fiesta jerseys are the most beautiful uniforms in the league.
- The Spurs are unbeaten in road games with the Fiesta jerseys.
Game Flow
The Spurs took a quick 9-0 lead while both teams missed a few long shots, but the Spurs got into the paint and took advantage with Keldon Johnson and LaMarcus Aldridge in the paint. After a time-out, the Clippers cleared the case a bit and took the lead in a Kawhi steal and broke away late in the quarter. But the Spurs finished strong when Patty Mills warmed up from outside the arc and scored the final 13 points for the bargain, giving them a 36-27 lead after a quarter.
Devin Vassell started the scoring in second place and the Spurs rushed away from three and chased after a big lead. Everything started to flow for San Antonio, and they could not do anything wrong on either side of the track and ran the lead to more than 24 when the Spurs hit their shots and the Clippers could not hit anything. With nothing working for the Clips, the masked man decided to take the game into his own hands, and he started working one-on-one, and the Clips started leading. The Spurs held the best they could and took a 63-44 lead.
The Clippers started the second half on an 11-4 run when Kawhi took over, and Pop needed a timeout. The Clippers at one point reduced the lead to 6 as Pat Beverley illogically suddenly became a good three-point shooter. LaMarcus Aldridge finally started to get the ball and hit a few shots to push the lead back to double figures, but the Spurs could not maintain it and were just one point ahead 85-84 at the end of the quarter, after outreach is 39 -22 in the quarter. [Later corrected to 85-83 by the refs, who changed a Luke Kennard three to a two point shot.]
The Clippers tied the score when the final quarter began with a Zubac series. The Spurs then trailed 12-0 to lead by a dozen. Patty Mills started going insane from outside the arc when he led the Fiesta-clad cages to 15 points. But the Clippers weren’t done yet, and Pat Beverly led the Clippers on a jog to cut the lead back to single digits. The Clips increased the volume on their defense and closed the score to 115-113 with 13 seconds left. The Spur allowed Kennard somehow, but he missed it, and Pat Beverley crashed into Patty Mills who hit one of the two free throws. With a lead of 3 points and 5 seconds left, Leonard takes the shot to level it, and the Spurs win 116-113
Music break
Clipper ships are made of wood, right? Very free and easy.
What’s next. . .
Visit ClipsNation for the Clippers fans.
The Spurs are back at Staples Center on Thursday night at 9:00 to face the Lakers, who beat them just twice last week. This will be the last game against the defending champions this season, so it will be the last chance to avoid a season game from the LeBrons.