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Clippers face Spurs in Game 2 Friday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 4/24/2015  at  12:08:00 PM
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LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (69-15)

at SAN ANTONIO SPURS (45-39)

NBA Playoffs
Western Conference - First Round
Tip-off: Friday, 9:35 p.m. ET
Line: San Antonio -4.0, Total: 203.5

The Spurs look to take a 2-1 series lead when they host the Clippers in Game 3 on Friday.

The Clippers seemingly had control of Game 2, but the Spurs pulled out a gutsy 111-107 overtime road win as 2-point underdogs. San Antonio shot 46.2% from the field in the game and turned the ball over just nine times. The Spurs were, however, outrebounded 70-56 and must be better on the glass. The victory for San Antonio means that the team is now 3-3 both SU and ATS versus the Clippers this season. The Spurs have, however, dominated the Clippers at home since 1996. In that time, they have gone 31-6 SU and 23-12 ATS versus Los Angeles. 20 of those games have gone Over the total and more recently, eight of the past 13 games between these teams have gone Over. Los Angeles is 24-13 ATS in road games after having won six or seven of its past eight games over the past two seasons. San Antonio is 12-3 ATS in home games after playing a road game this season and 22-9 ATS off a road win when scoring 110 or more points over the past three seasons. The Clippers enter this game relatively healthy and PG Tony Parker (Achilles) is banged up but will play for the Spurs in this one.

The Clippers had an opportunity to head into this game up 2-0 in the series, but they blew it late in Los Angeles in Game 2. They’ll now need to pull themselves together and attempt to steal one of these next two games in San Antonio in order to earn back home-court advantage. PG Chris Paul (19.1 PPG, 10.2 APG, 4.6 RPG, 1.9 SPG) had 21 points, eight boards and seven assists in Game 2 and has been shooting the ball better than he has in his entire career. The superstar shot the three-ball really well this season (40% 3PT) but he has been out of this world recently with 12-of-21 from behind the arc finding the bottom of the net over the past three games. PF Blake Griffin (21.9 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 5.3 APG) had 29 points, 12 boards, 11 assists and a block in Game 2. He was unstoppable for a majority of the game, but he had a costly turnover late that ended up sending the game into overtime. He’ll need to gather himself and come through with a big performance in San Antonio on Friday. C DeAndre Jordan (11.5 PPG, 15.0 RPG, 2.2 BPG) will also need to play well on Friday. Jordan had 20 points, 15 boards and three blocks in Game 2, but he did struggle to cover Tim Duncan in the game. He must do a better job of containing him if he is guarding him in Game 3.

The Spurs pulled off a huge upset win on the road in Game 2 and PF Tim Duncan (13.9 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 3.0 APG, 2.0 BPG) looked like a guy who is still in his prime. In 44 minutes of action. Duncan went 14-for-23 from the field and had 28 points, 11 boards, four assists, two steals and a block. He was hitting tough shots whenever his team needed him to and will need to play well again in Game 3. SF Kawhi Leonard (16.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.5 APG, 2.3 SPG) also had a great game in Los Angeles in Game 2, finishing with 23 points, nine boards, three assists, a block and a steal in 39 minutes of action. Leonard’s ability to create his own shot has been huge this series because PG Tony Parker (14.4 PPG, 4.9 APG) has been struggling and dealing with injuries. He played just 30 minutes in Game 2 and had one point on 0-for-6 shooting from the field. PG Patty Mills (6.9 PG, 1.7 APG) stepped it up big time with Parker not at 100% Wednesday. Mills had 18 points in 19 minutes of action and none of them were bigger than the two free throws he hit that forced overtime after Blake Griffin turned the ball over. He’ll need to be ready to contribute once again on Friday.


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