The Clippers are peaking at exactly the right time. LA extended its winning streak to four games with a critical 112-101 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. More importantly for the Clippers, they moved to within a game of the Utah Jazz for the No. 4 playoff seed in the West with just three games remaining in the regular season.
The Clippers leaned on the offensive brilliance of Blake Griffin to get the job done on Tuesday. Griffin scored a game-high 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field in the win against Dallas. Over his last three games, Griffin is averaging a whopping 33 points on an incredible 72.9 shooting from the floor. Griffin has been a vital cog in LA’s success this season, leading the team in scoring with a 21.8 PPG average.
The Clippers will look to sustain the momentum of that huge win when they lock horns with the San Antonio Spurs later tonight. The Clippers will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well against the Spurs of late. They have won three of their last five games against the Spurs and lead the season-series, 2-1. They demolished the Spurs the last time they squared off at AT&T Center, 116-92. Griffin starred for the Clippers in that victory last November, scoring 26 of his 28 points in the first half.
The Clippers are 4-6 SU and ATS in their last 10 road games.
Gregg Popovich is definitely a genius. His decision to rest his key stars on Friday didn’t backfire as the Spurs still pulled off a gritty 102-89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Bryn Forbes scored a game-high 27 points for the Spurs who were missing the services of Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Danny Green, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in this contest.
Leonard, Aldridge and Gasol are expected to return to action tonight when the Spurs host the Clippers in their final home game this regular season. San Antonio’s form at AT&T Center has been patchy to say the least, going just 31-9 this season. That’s a far cry from the stunning 40-1 record they put up at home last season. The Spurs are coming off a disappointing 102-95 home loss to the lowly Lakers, although San Antonio also rested some of its key stars in that ballgame.
In fact, Kawhi Leonard played only 14 minutes in that contest. Look for Popovich to do the same tonight, especially now that their first-round matchup with the Grizzlies has been confirmed. Regular season wins are great and all but victories in the playoffs are the ones that matter. The five-time NBA champions know that first hand.
The Spurs are 7-3 SU and 4-6 ATS in their last 10 home games.
