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Clippers break out of five-game skid with 103-95 win over lethargic Spurs

Los Angeles trailed only once, by one point, and led by as many as 19 in the first half.

SAN ANTONIO — You almost could see this one coming.

The Spurs were coming off back-to-back road victories for the first time this season, and the Los Angeles Clippers had lost five straight heading into Sunday night's game at the AT&T Center.

The Clippers also were playing without guard Lou Williams, their leading scorer, and starting power forward Danilo Gallinari, both sidelined by injuries. 

In short, there was good reason for the Silver and Black to be confident about their chances of winning their third game in a row. But you know what they say about best-laid plans.

"We played bad from the beginning of the game to the end," said reserve guard Maro Belinelli, who finished with 12 points. "We didn't compete. We need to give credit to them, especially without Gallo (Gallinari) and Williams. I think they played much better than us on offense and defense.

Tobias Harris scored 27 points and Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverley added 18 apiece, leading the Clippers to a 103-95 victory over the lethargic and sloppy Silver and Black.

"The Clippers were missing 40 points from a couple of guys that didn't play tonight and we've all seen it many times in the NBA," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's one of the mysteries where it always seems like that team comes up and plays well and the team that has everybody kind of loses a little bit of emotion, or juice or whatever you want to call it.

"I think they out-executed us and out-competed us tonight in every way, shape and form. And we were sloppy with the ball on top of it, so that's a bad combination."

The Spurs (27-21) coughed up 18 turnovers that the Clippers (25-21) converted into 20 points. Los Angeles outscored San Antonio 19-6 in fast-break points.

Williams has averaged 18.7 points in 40 games this season, although he hasn't made one start. Gallinari has started 44 games, averaging 19 points and six rebounds.

Popovich did not take take questions from reporters after giving his assessment of the game.

But the players were blunt when asked about their collective performance.

"It just seemed like we didn't come to play, and gave it away," guard DeMar DeRozan said. "We're supposed to have the energy and competitiveness to step up every single night, especially on our floor."

DeRozan, had another tough shooting night, going 4 of 16 from the field and finishing with only eight points. He returned to action Sunday night after sitting out Friday night's 116-113 victory in Minnesota.

Asked if he was OK physically, DeRozan said: "Physically I'm OK. I've just been playing like crap. Tough days. I always thrive in adversity some way. You've got to face it head first, can't shy around it. You can't make excuses about it. You've just got to face it head first, like a man. Take the good with the bad, take the bad with the good. Understand that you'll get out of it.

"Nobody's perfect. The amount of work that I work on, everything I work on, it's going to turn. I'm not worried about it."

Credit: Photo by Antonio Morano (bit.ly/XR79FT) / Special to KENS5.com
Spurs forward Davis Bertans blocks a shot by Los Angeles Clippers guard Tyrone Wallace in Sunday night's game at the AT&T Center.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 30 points and 14 rebounds, and Rudy Gay added 19. Belinelli was the only other San Antonio player who scored in double figures.

"There is not much to say," Belinelli said. "They wanted it more than us and I think everybody saw that. We just need to play better. It's not the first time. We lost the game against Charlotte and we lost a couple of games at home, and we can't do that. So, we just need to go back to the gym, work and be ready for the next game."

The victory gave Los Angeles a 2-2 split in its four-game regular-season series with San Antonio.

The Spurs won't play at the AT&T Center until next Sunday, when they host the Washington Wizards. San Antonio plays at Philadelphia on Wednesday and New Orleans on Saturday.

Los Angeles took an 80-73 lead into the fourth quarter after the teams fought to a 20-20 draw in the third. The Spurs drew to within five, 84-79, on a layup by Gay with 9:40 remaining, but that's as close as they got the rest of the way.

"Winning here, when you have that many points out, was great," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "I thought defensively we played great. I just thought the energy, everybody played (with was big). And every single guy that came in gave us a lift."

Avery Bradley (15) and Johnathan Motley (10) rounded out L.A.'s double-digit scoring.

Credit: Photo by Antonio Morano (bit.ly/XR79FT) / Special to KENS5.com
Forward Rudy Gay scored 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the Spurs' 103-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night at the AT&T Center.

The Clippers shot 45.9 percent overall (39-85) and 52.4 percent (11-21) from the three-point line. San Antonio was 39 of 84 (46.4 percent) from the field and was 8 of 19 (42.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Clippers were up 38-26 after one quarter, ending the period on a 15-2 run after the Spurs had taken their only lead of the half at 24-23. L.A. outscored San Antonio 22-2 after it trailed by one to go ahead 45-26 one minute into the second quarter.

The Silver and Black outscored the Clippers 27-15 the rest of the half to cut the 19-point deficit to seven, 60-53, at the half.

Bradley and Harris led the Clippers' first-half scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

L.A. shot 52.3 percent overall (23-44) and 50 percent (6-12) from the three-point line in the first half. The Clippers had good ball movement, getting 15 assists on their 23 made baskets.

Gay (13) and Aldridge (10) carried the Silver and Black's offense in the first half.

The Spurs shot 50 percent (21-42) in the first half and nailed 5 of 11 attempts from beyond the arc. They also moved the moved the ball well, finishing the half with 14 assists on their 21 made field goals.

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