Game #18 Preview: Spurs @ Clippers

Greetings, £ers.  I certainly hope you've enjoyed the great start to the Spurs' season.  The team just finished off their best November ever last night, going 14-1 for the month.  You certainly don't need me to tell you how awesome that is, but it's still fun to type.  The Men in Black now stand at 15-2, with 2 fewer losses than their closest leaguewide competition.

Tonight, we have a game that's a potential trap.  We've beaten the Clips 18 straight times, so they're sort of due.  And LA's other team has had some good games recently, most notably when they knocked off the Hornets last weekend.  Also, the Clips' new starting lineup is crazy athletic, a trait which traditionally gives us problems.  Still, the Clipper curse is alive and well, and the Spurs are undefeated on national TV this season.  Guess who's on national TV tonight?

Preview after the jump.

Here, have a song by a band you've probably never heard of:

Let's do this.

San Antonio Spurs @ Los Angeles Clippers Where: Staples Center When: 12/01/10, 9:30PM Spurs Time - Timezone Converter Watch: NBA TV, FSSW By the Numbers Data source: basketball-reference.com
Category Stat Rank Offensive Rating 112.5 2nd Defensive Rating 103.1 9th Defensive Rebound Rate 76.9 4th Offensive Rebound Rate 26.1 14th Field Goal Percentage 46.7 8th 3-Point FG Percentage 42.1 1st Free Throw Percentage 79.5 6th Turnover Percentage 13.3 11th			Category Stat Rank Offensive Rating 104.5 24th Defensive Rating 112.5 29th Defensive Rebound Rate 75.9 8th Offensive Rebound Rate 28.7 9th Field Goal Percentage 45.4 17th 3-Point FG Percentage 32.3 7th Free Throw Percentage 70.4 29th Turnover Percentage 15.4 29th
Record Wins Losses Overall 15 2 Conference 9 2 Division 2 2 Home 7 2 Away 8 0       Position Conference Division Record 1st 1st Lineups Starters PG: Tony Parker SG: Manu Ginobili SF: Richard Jefferson PF: DeJuan Blair C: Tim Duncan Key Bench Players  George Hill Tiago Splitter James Anderson			Record Wins Losses Overall 3 15 Conference 3 11 Division 1 2 Home 3 7 Away 0 8       Position Conference Division Record 15th 5th Lineups Starters PG: Eric Bledsoe SG: Eric Gordon SF: Al-Farouq Aminu PF: Blake Griffin C: DeAndre Jordan Key Bench Players Ryan Gomes Rasual Butler Brian Cook

Matchup Analysis

	Point Guard
	Shooting Guard
	Small Forward
	Power Forward
	Center
	Bench
	Coach
	Intangibles
	Mojo
	Winner

Starters

PG:  Tony's game has been a little off lately, but I still have more faith in him getting the job done than I do Bledsoe.  But if he has to go up against B-Diddy, that's a completely different situation.

SG:  Against most of his competition, Gordon's 21.5 PER would seem to make him the favorite.  But Manu is sporting a gaudy 25.0 right now, putting him 1st among SG's and 6th in the league overall.  Only Paul, Howard, Westbrook, Gasol and Horford(really?) are better than Manu in efficiency at the moment.  Sorry, Gordon, but Manu's switched to God Mode again.

SF:  Aminu is a promising rookie, but RJ 2.0 has been incredible thus far in the season.  Let the Rage flow all over Staples.  And maybe he can play cowboy with Griffin this time.

PF:  Good game last night by Blair, which was a very nice sight for sore eyes.  Unfortunately, Griffindor is insanely good, and DeBeast will not be nearly enough to offset him.  Tiago, anyone?

C:  Jordan has been a thorn in our sides a couple of time already, but let's be honest:  nobody on that roster can stop the Timmy.  I mean, he put in a triple double last night without breaking a sweat.  Roll, Timmy, roll.

Bench

The ath-uh-leticism in the Clips' starting lineup in absolutely ridonkulous.  That said, unless Kaveman and B-Diddy are back(both listed as day-to-day, but Kaveman's injury should have kept him out until at least another week from now), the Clips bench is pretty turribul.  < /Sir Charles >

The Spurs, meanwhile, are back to having one of the best bench units in the league, with George seeming to be back at last season's level, and Splitter getting more and more comfortable.  Good times.

Coaching

Pop has the Spurs off to their best start ever, and has made some of the best in-game adjustments in the league to come up with big comeback wins this season.

Intangibles

They're the Clippers.  Also, guess who's the only team worse than the Spurs at defending the 3?  Yeah, that would be the Clippers.

Mojo

We have the Manu, and the Timmy.  Best road team in the league, etc.

Prediction

Hopefully the Spurs put this one away early.

Key(s) to the Game

Make open shots - Simple enough, but doesn't always seem to happen for us.

Defensive fundamentals - You know... boxing out, making the right rotation, etc.  Pressing them would be a good strategy, too, since they turn the ball over alot.

Other Reading

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell - Varner and company are kicking some butt this year.  The advanced stat scouting report[posted every game day] is some of the most in-depth analysis you'll find anywhere.

Clippers

Clips Nation(SB Nation) - The Clips are blessed with some great blogging representation, and Steve is running an incredible one-man show.  Show him some love.

Following Along

TV 

NBA TV(yay!), FSSW(San Antonio), Prime Ticket(LA)

Radio

WOAI 1200AM; Audio League Pass[streaming]

Online

As always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash.  Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. You can also shoot an email to poundingtherockmail@yahoo.com(IMPORTANT:  Please include your PtR username in the email for reference) for further assistance.