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Clippers vs Spurs Preview: Sparking A Winning Streak
The Clippers are coming off a good win against the Rockets, but can get they get a winning streak going against the young Spurs on the road?
Game Information
Where: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas
When: 5:00 PM PT
How to Watch: Bally Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Terance Mann – Ivica Zubac
Spurs: Jeremy Sochan – Julian Champagnie – Keldon Johnson – Victor Wembanyama – Zach Collins
Injuries
Clippers: Mason Plumlee Out (Knee), Brandon Boston Jr. Out (Quad), Kobe Brown Out (G-League)
Spurs: Devin Vassell Questionable (Groin)
The Big Picture
The Clippers finally won their first game of the James Harden
era on a game-winner by the bearded star in a nailbiter against the Rockets.
Despite being 4-7, the Clippers are still 14th in Net Rating with
the 11th best defense and 15th-ranked offense. Daniel
Theis showed some nice flashes as the backup center, which will help the
reserve unit not bleed points, and Terance Mann is an effective connecting
piece with the starters. The Clippers just need to keep building chemistry with
their new starting and bench units and hopefully get into a rhythm to move back
up the standings.
The Antagonist
After starting out a frisky 3-2 and raising the possibility of being somewhere close to “good” this year, the Spurs have fallen apart, losing their last eight games. The Spurs also rank dead last in Net Rating by a massive margin at -12.9, as they boast the league’ second-worst offense and second-worst defense. Devin Vassell and Tre Jones, two of their best players, have missed some time, but the Spurs are still very bad. However, they don’t care about wins or losses this year, which is all about development. Victor Wembanyama is the prize, and he’s been as advertised, with a presence that changes everything on defense and the ability to catch fire on offense. The rest of the roster is still very young and shaky, though if Vassell plays they’re a lot more dangerous due to his shooting and overall scoring package. Outside of that, the bizarre Jeremy Sochan point guard experiment continues, and Keldon Johnson can really score.
Notes
Guarding Wemby: The Clippers’ biggest (in terms of scoring
margin) win of the season so far was against these Spurs. In that game, Robert
Covington guarded Wembanyama, and his strength and smarts made life a nightmare
for Wemby. RoCo is no longer on the Clippers, so it will be curious to see who
gets that matchup. Kawhi would be interesting, as would Paul George, but I do
wonder if Terance gets it since the Spurs don’t have a traditional point guard
for him to hound. If Devin Vassell plays that changes matters a bit, as it’s
one more dangerous perimeter player for the Clippers to deal with. Putting Zu
on Zach Collins and having him to help on Wemby seems like the smartest play no
matter who takes the wunderkind Frenchman however. PJ Tucker, for all of his
uselessness on offense, would also be a good bet on Wemby on defense – though Wemby
can help way off him on the other end.
Getting Kawhi Going: The Clippers’ best player so far
this season, by far, has been Paul George – not their actual best player, Kawhi
Leonard. While Kawhi has still been good – he’s averaging 21, 5.5, and 3.5 on
good efficiency – he’s rarely looked like Terminator Kawhi, especially on
offense. His free throw rate is by far his lowest as a Clipper, and he’s
getting to the rim significantly less as well. It’s a bit unclear whether Kawhi
just needs to get revved up, whether he’s lost a step, or whether the Clippers’
cramped spacing has hindered him so far. Regardless, it would be nice to see
the Clippers try to get him going early with some easy buckets, maybe with
designed plays to get him to the hoop or one of his pet midrange jumpers. The three-ball
has been falling and Kawhi has upped his three-point intake, which is great,
now the inside game just needs to be unlocked.
Clippers vs Spurs Preview: Sparking A Winning Streak
Robert Flom