They are comfortably in second place in the Western Conference and want to wrap that up early to get ready for the playoffs. They can stay multiple games ahead of the rest of the pack with a win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers get this game at home, which is a big plus, but they will still likely be underdogs because the Spurs have been their traditionally dominant selves on the season.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, February 24, 2017, at 10:30 p.m. ET at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Friday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Clippers are 35-21 straight up and 29-27 against the spread. They have played in 26 games at home this season and have covered in 15 of them. Los Angeles has gone 9-8 against the spread as the underdog on the season.
The Spurs are 43-13 straight up and 31-24-1 against the spread. San Antonio has played in 31 road games on the year and has covered in 17 of them and pushed once. The Spurs have gone 27-23-1 against the spread as the favorite.
Injury Report
The Clippers will be without star point guard Chris Paul in this one, as he is still recovering from a thumb injury. He is averaging 17.5 points and 9.7 assists per game on the season and is a big loss.
Austin Rivers is getting the majority of the minutes at point guard in his absence. Rivers is averaging 12.2 points and 3.0 assists per game on the season and has increased his numbers as his playing time has gone up.
Rivers is doing what he can to fill in, but not having a perennial All-Star certainly hurts the Clippers and will make it tougher to pull off this upset of the Spurs.
Key Stat
0-2. That’s the Spurs’ record against the Clippers so far this season despite the fact that San Antonio enters this contest with a better record than its Western Conference foe. There’s no doubt that the Spurs will be hoping the third time is the charm this season against LA.
The last time these two teams met back on December 22nd, the Clippers, who were without Blake Griffin, won 106-101 behind a strong effort from their bench. The Clippers also beat the Spurs 116-92 on November 5th in San Antonio.
The road rout was especially impressive, as Los Angeles started the season extremely hot. They have since dropped off in part because of the injuries to Griffin and Paul, but another win over the Spurs would be extremely important.
The Los Angeles do have somewhat of a shot since it is at home in this one.
Free NBA ATS Pick
Despite the dominance by the Clippers this season and their home court advantage, this one looks like it will go to San Antonio. The team is always looking to peak at the end of the season, and this post-All-Star Break start should be a good one.
San Antonio has great talent and coaching, and will be a thorn in the side of the Warriors in the postseason. The Spurs are clearly the second-best team in the West on the year and will shown their abilities on the road in a hostile environment.
If Paul was playing this might be a different story, but the Clippers will be too short-handed to keep up.
NBA Odds: Spurs 110, Clippers 105
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