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SPURS GAMEDAY: Silver and Black focused on cleaning up mistakes from lopsided loss to Clippers

Spurs close out pre-Christmas schedule on the road against Grizzlies.

Spurs (11-17) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (11-19)

When, where: Monday, 7 p.m., FedExForum, Memphis, Tenn.

All-time series record: Spurs lead 71-25

Last season: Tied 2-2

Season series: Grizzlies lead 1-0

Last meeting: Grizzlies 113, Spurs 109, Nov. 11, AT&T Center

Spurs' last game: Lost to Los Angeles Clippers 134-109, Saturday, AT&T Center

Grizzlies' last game: Beat Sacramento Kings 119-115, Saturday, Memphis

Spurs' last 10 games/streak: 5-5, lost one

Grizzlies' last 10 games/streak: 5-5 won one

Spurs' injury/inactive report: Forward Drew Eubanks (G League), out; guard/forward Keldon Johnson (G League), out; forward Luke Samanic (G League), out.

Grizzlies' injury/inactive report: Guard/forward Andre Iguodala (not with team), out; guard/forward Josh Jackson (G League), out; guard John Konchar (G League), out; center Jonas Valanciunas (right foot; soreness), questionable; guard/forward Yuta Watanabe (G League), out.

Notable: The Spurs play at Dallas on Thursday and end the week against Detroit on Saturday at the AT&T Center. The game against Detroit will be broadcast by KENS 5, the Official Television Station of the San Antonio Spurs. 

GAME PREVIEW

The pained expression on DeMar DeRozan's face reflected the mood in the Spurs' locker room after Saturday night's 25-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at the AT&T Center.

Former Spur Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and flirted with a triple-double as the Clippers rolled to a 134-109 victory and handed the Silver and Back their most lopsided home loss of the season.

The Spurs kept it close for a quarter and trailed by 11 at the half before L.A.outscored them 38-22 in the third period. 

San Antonio collapsed under the weight of 18 turnovers that the Clippers converted into 36 points and a 23-4 edge in fast-break points. L.A. also pounded the Spurs inside, outscoring them 74-30 in the paint. The Clippers also threw down 20 dunks - the most allowed in a game in the 21st century, according to ESPN.

"When you give up that many points off turnovers and allow that many points in the paint, that’s the outcome," DeRozan said.

Asked if it got old watching the Clippers score on so many dunks, DeRozan said, "Man, it's embarrassing. It's frustrating, especially when you're out there trying. Definitely frustrating."

Leonard, who played seven seasons with San Antonio before getting traded to Toronto in July 2018, got his 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting and added seven rebounds, nine assists, and four steals in 27 minutes. With L.A. up 110-83 after three quarters, Leonard sat out the entire fourth period.

DeRozan had one of his best offensive games of the season, scoring a team-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. But it hardly mattered on a night when the Silver and Black were no match for a team expected to contend for the league title.

The Spurs (11-17) will get up, dust themselves off and get back at it Monday night in a road game against a team that's fared worse than they have this season. But while Memphis (11-19) has two more losses than San Antonio, the Grizzlies are 1-0 against the Silver and Black. And Memphis best the Spurs in San Antonio.

Credit: Photo by Antonio Morano bit.ly/XR79FT / Special to KENS5.com
Spurs forward DeMar DeRozan is among 44 finalists, including teammates LaMarcus Aldridge and Derrick White, for a spot on Team USA's Olympic roster.

For their part, the Silver and Black are focused on cleaning up the mistakes that doomed them against the Clippers.

"We just have to be smarter," DeRozan said. "We have to be more locked in. We need more attention to detail. We just have to be locked in top to bottom and rotations, just helping each other. Knowing when one guy is beat, where to rotate, where to help at. Just small things like that.”

Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge also blamed the loss on a lack of attention to detail and a breakdown in communication.

"We had some miscommunication at times," Aldridge said. "We were trying to be active and do certain things that were a little bit different. We weren't all on the same page at times. It definitely hurt us at times.

"Point is that we weren't sharp. We didn't have each other's back. We didn't do the game plan correctly."

The Spurs shot 51.2 percent (42-82) from the field and 35.7 percent (10-28) from the three-point line, but the turnovers were too much to overcome. Feeding off the extra possessions, the Clippers shot 54.5 percent overall (54-99) and 33.3 percent (12-36) from beyond the arc.

"I felt like when we moved the ball and moved our bodies, they kind of struggled (defensively with it," Spurs guard Derrick White said. "But they did a good job of using their length, using their size, and we didn't do a good job of executing."

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 24 points and Dillon Brooks had 21 in the Grizzlies' 113-109 victory against the Spurs on Nov. 11 at the AT&T Center.

Aldridge and Rudy Gay led the Spurs' scoring with 19 and 18 points, respectively. White (15), Bryn Forbes (14) and DeRozan (12) rounded out San Antonio's double-figure scoring. DeRozan also finished with a game-high seven assists.

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