The San Antonio Spurs’ stamina will be tested as they look to draw closer to the top spot in the Western Conference when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.
It’s the second game of a home back-to-back and the first of three between the teams over the final weeks of the season. The Spurs enter the Friday game three games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the West.
San Antonio opened a six-game homestand with a resounding 121-106 win over the East-leading Detroit Pistons on Thursday as Victor Wembanyama (38 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks) and De’Aaron Fox (29 points) led the way.
The win was the second straight for the Spurs and their 13th in their past 14 games. Two of those wins were against the Pistons.
“I’m very pleased with the level on contact we had because Detroit plays so physical,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I thought we did a really good job of staying with it, getting to the right spots and making shots. Every game is a big game, and I and the coaching staff continue to preach urgency and competitiveness. Everyone really played well.”
The Spurs set the tone for the game by going up by as many as 19 points in the first half en route to a 71-55 lead at halftime. When Detroit culled the margin to eight points late in the third period, San Antonio had every answer.
Julian Champagnie hit for 16 points and Stephen Castle finished with 11 points and 12 assists in Thursday’s win, which came in the Spurs’ first game at home in nearly a month. San Antonio will play seven of its next nine contests at home.
“We want to win, and we will do whatever it takes to get that done,” Champagnie said.
The Clippers headed to San Antonio after a dominating 130-107 home victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. Los Angeles has won three straight games after losing three in a row and are ninth in the West with 21 contests remaining, good enough for a spot in the play-in tournament if the season ended today.
Kawhi Leonard continues to be one of the highlights for the Clippers this season and led Los Angeles in scoring with 29 points on Wednesday, marking the 35th game this season that he’s led or tied for the team’s high scorer. The Clippers shot 55.1% for the game and improved to 24-10 since snapping a five-game losing streak on Dec. 20.
“We still (need) to learn the plays with our new guys and, you know, we are working on that,” Los Angeles coach Tyronn Lue said. “The execution hasn’t really been great, (and we are) not where we are supposed to be. Spacing is not great, and we are still not understanding the play calls. Once we do that I think we will be really good.”
Bennedict Mathurin added 23 points against his former team while Brook Lopez scored 17 points and Derrick Jones Jr. and Darius Garland hit for 12 each for the Clippers, with Garland playing his second game since Jan. 14 and suiting up at home for the initial time for Los Angeles after being acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the deadline.
Lue said the plan is to let Garland get his feet back under him and then take advantage of his versatility. A lingering toe injury kept him from playing.
“(Garland) is a guy (who) can push the pace, can run pick-and-roll, can get to where he wants to get to on the floor, can run a lot of different options where he can come off pin-downs, and can come off pick-the-picker actions,” Lue said. “We can just use him a lot of different ways.”
Garland did not travel to San Antonio and will not play against the Spurs or the Memphis Grizzlies in the Clippers’ next two games.
