Clippers at Spurs: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio Spurs (-8, 206.5)
The Los Angeles Clippers will be without superstar point guard Chris Paul, who is expected to miss 3-to-5 weeks due to a separated right shoulder, as they travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs on Saturday. Paul was injured Friday in the Clippers' win over Dallas and his teammates immediately recognized the loss. "I don't think you could find one guy in the league, maybe (LeBron James), but besides that there's no one guy who can make up what Chris brings," Jamal Crawford told reporters.
San Antonio is looking to shake off the sting of a home loss that snapped a three-game win streak last time out. The Spurs are in fine shape overall, just a game behind Portland in the Western Conference standings but coach Gregg Popovich was not impressed with Thursday's effort in a 105-101 loss to the New York Knicks. "They wanted it more than we did, that's for sure," he told the San Antonio Express-News.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (23-12): The loss of Paul is obviously huge for Los Angeles, which leans heavily on his league-leading average of 11.1 assists to go with 19.6 points. Darren Collison, who notched a season-high 20 points and dished out four assists on Friday, will likely see extended time in Paul's absence. Collison is averaging 8.4 points and 2.1 assists, while playing a shade under 19 minutes per game this season.
ABOUT THE SPURS (25-8): Popovich is particularly concerned with his club's defense, as San Antonio has allowed 100 points or more in 13 of its last 17 outings after just one of its first 16 opponents reached the century mark. "I don't think we've been that great at all defensively," he said. Point guard Tony Parker is enjoying another fine season, averaging 17.8 points and 6.1 assists, but teammate Danny Green saw him take it to another level last year and is expecting even more out of the 13-year veteran, saying, "He's playing well but not like he was playing last year - like the Tony we know he can play like."
TRENDS:
* Clippers are 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings.
* Over is 11-3-2 in the last 16 meetings in San Antonio.
* Clippers are 4-0 ATS in their last four road games.
* Spurs are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 home games.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Spurs allowed nine 3-pointers to the Knicks in Thursday's loss and have yielded 8.5 per game in their last 17 outings, as compared to 5.9 in the first 16 games this season.
2. Los Angeles F Blake Griffin paced the Clippers with 27 points in their previous meeting against San Antonio this season - a 115-92 decision in Los Angeles on Dec. 16.
3. Spurs SG Marco Belinelli is coming off a career-high 32 points last time out and has shot 16-of-22 in his last two games after going 10-for-31 in his previous four.