|
 Mills came off the bench to score 16 of his 25 points in the
fourth quarter, and the Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Clippers
113-103 at Staples Center.
"He killed us, I mean really," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "We
started blitzing, and even then he made shots. I don't know if
Parker could've been much better, when you look at it. He played
terrific."
The Spurs (39-15) snapped a three-game winning streak by the
Clippers (37-19) and handed Los Angeles a rare home defeat. Los
Angeles is 23-5 at Staples. San Antonio has the NBA's best road
mark, 21-7.
"(Mills) was great for us," said forward Tim Duncan, who finished
with 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. "That fourth quarter
there, he took over for five minutes and gave us the lead that we
needed. We were struggling trying to find points and trying to keep
the pressure on. He just took the ballgame over. It was great for us
and a great stretch for him."
Mills connected on nine of 15 shots from the floor. He also had five
rebounds and five assists. Guard Marco Belinelli added 20 points,
and forward Danny Green chipped in 14 points. Mills outscored the
entire Clippers' bench, which accounted for 20 points.
"You can't replace a Tony Parker, that's for sure," said Mills, who
shot 6-for-8 from the field in the final period, hitting two
3-pointers. "It's collectively, doing the job collectively, and I
think that's what we (did) tonight. We (threw) the ball around like
a hot potato and found open shooters. That opened stuff up in the
lane."
Forward Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 35 points and 12
rebounds, while guard Jamal Crawford finished with 25 points. Chris
Paul scored 11 points and handed out nine assists, but the point
guard missed nine of his 10 shots from the field. Center DeAndre
Jordan added 18 rebounds and six blocks.
Despite his performance, Griffin said he was weary from all of the
activities and playing at last weekend's All-Star Game in New
Orleans.
[to top of second column] |
"Don't quite have the legs. Not feeling refreshed," said Griffin,
who topped 6,000 points in his career in the first half, becoming
the eighth active player to do so before the end of his fourth
season. "It happens to a lot of guys. It's not an excuse, and I
don't want to act like it is. We just have to find a way to be
better."
The Spurs took an 86-76 lead on a jumper by Mills less than two
minutes into the fourth quarter. Mills' 3-pointer with 8:46 left
pushed the advantage to 93-81. Los Angeles cut the lead to six on a
Crawford trey with 5:17 remaining, but they got no closer as Mills
and the Spurs pulled away.
"I think everybody tonight was great," Belinelli said. "Patty Mills
was fantastic in the fourth quarter."
The Spurs converted nine of 20 attempts from behind the arc, with
Belinelli hitting three of six. The Clippers made only six of 21
from 3-point range. San Antonio also outrebounded the Clippers
48-38.
San Antonio took a 56-51 lead at the break, ending the half on a
14-3 run.
The clubs split their previous meetings, with Los Angeles rolling to
a 115-92 victory on Dec. 16 and the Spurs coasting to a 116-92 win
on Jan. 4. That was the Clippers' worst defeat this season.
NOTES: After former coach George Karl said on ESPN he heard this
might be the final season for Tim Duncan, the Spurs power forward
shot down the speculation. "I don't know what I'm going to do, so I
don't know how he knows what I'm going to do," Duncan said. . ...
San Antonio PG Tony Parker, who played 11 minutes in Sunday's NBA
All-Star Game, is out indefinitely with a variety of injuries.
Popovich, who said the wear and tear of the past three seasons took
a toll on Parker, wouldn't speculate when the All-Star would return.
... San Antonio F Kawhi Leonard, out since Jan. 22 with a
non-displaced fracture in his right hand, performed shooting drills
before the contest but isn't expected to play during the final two
games of the road trip. ... Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he
doesn't know when G J.J. Redick, who has a bulging disk, will
return. "I guess the word would be (when it) calms down so he can
get his movement," Rivers said. "That could be three days, two
weeks, three weeks, no one knows."
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
