The LA Clippers dropped another game to the San Antonio Spurs after playing one of their worst quarters of the season in the third.
Led by LaMarcus Aldridge‘s 38 points, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the LA Clippers on Saturday night after the Clippers completely fell apart in the third quarter.
What was otherwise a decent showing by the team was completely killed by their play in the third. Entering the quarter tied at 56 apiece, the Clips were outscored 39-19. Yes, you read that right.
The Clippers starters could not get anything to fall and the bench unit did not fare much better. Even with the change up of Marcin Gortat starting the second half in place of Boban Marjanovic for the second consecutive game, the team just could not get any momentum going.
In fact, the starters had a rough night in general. Every player who started the game was a negative plus/minus. Danilo Gallinari was at least able to score, putting in 21 points. Tobias Harris added 16 (which is well below his season average) but eight of those came in the first quarter.
On the defensive end, the Clippers could not stop Aldridge. He came out firing, putting up 12 points in the first quarter and 10 in the second. It didn’t matter whether Marjanovic, Montrezl Harrell or any other players were on him.
This loss hurts as San Antonio now leads the season series 2-1. With as tight as the Western Conference is this season, getting the advantage in an individual series could end up mattering a ton.
With this loss, the LA Clippers fall to 21-15 which keeps them at 4th place in the West. However, they are now tied in the loss column with the Houston Rockets who have been surging and only have one less win on the year. The Lakers, Blazers and Kings, who round out the last three spots of the playoff race, sit at 16 losses each.
The Clippers face another tough match-up on New Years Day and while it is against an Eastern Conference team, the 76ers are no pushover. The Clippers will need to right the ship for the new year if they want to stay in the thick of the playoff hunt.