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Three takeaways from the LA Clippers’ win over San Antonio Spurs

By Garrett Chorpenning

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 31: Los Angeles Clippers Forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives to the basket during a NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers on October 31, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 31: Los Angeles Clippers Forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives to the basket during a NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers on October 31, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 31: LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives to the basket during an NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the LA Clippers on October 31, 2019, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 31: LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives to the basket during an NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the LA Clippers on October 31, 2019, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The LA Clippers looked strong against the San Antonio Spurs, playing hard defense and coming out on top by a final of 103-97.

Just one night after falling to the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, the LA Clippers turned things around and handed the San Antonio Spurs their first loss of the regular season by a final tally of 103-97.

Kawhi Leonard was superb in the Clippers’ win over his former team, going for a season-high 38 points and 12 rebounds in 34 minutes of action.

As close as the final score was, LA was in control for a large majority of the game, and it never felt like the Spurs were close to taking over.

The Spurs took three separate leads in Thursday night’s game, all of which came early in the first half. They went up 24-23 at the end of the first quarter, and things were back-and-forth from there until the nine-minute mark of the second when San Antonio took its final lead of the game at 29-28.

San Antonio did keep things interesting, however. The game was tied on 10 different occasions, and the Spurs cut the Clippers’ lead down to just four with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

DeMar DeRozan did most of the damage for San Antonio, going for 29 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in 35 minutes. He converted an impressive 61.9 percent of his 21 field goal attempts, all of which came from inside the three-point arc.

Derrick White wasn’t far behind, tallying 20 points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks in just under 25 minutes.

Impressively, the Clippers were able to hold LaMarcus Aldridge to just five points and five rebounds, both of which are far below his season averages. Credit Ivica Zubac and Patrick Patterson for setting the tone early.

On LA’s end, Kawhi Leonard‘s performance stuck out far above the rest — which is what we’ll be starting with on the following slide.

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