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E-mailThe Spurs’ dominance over the Clippers continued as they won, 118-88, courtesy of George Hill’s masterful performance. The sophomore, who has stepped in for the injured Tony Parker, didn’t just score 14 points and dish out a career-high 11 assists; he also briefly assumed the role of player-coach. Hill had a superb night, but the instance wherein coach Greg Popovich gave him the clipboard might be the Spurs’ play of the night. When interviewed after the game, the lanky point guard said he never really coached. He just showed rookie Cedric Jackson the error that was made on a double-team in the post. Hill also added that he wasn’t calling a play for the team. Instead, he was merely making it simple by showing his teammates on how to run angles and rolls.
The Spurs’ win is the 16th straight time that they have won over the Clippers. It’s the longest active winning streak by any team against another team in the league.
With the Spurs in control of the game early on, there was little reason to play veterans Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan. Ginobili, however, still managed to score 14 points in 19 minutes while Duncan contributed 13 in just six minutes of action.
Richard Jefferson picked up where he left off against the Timberwolves, scoring 18 points on top of nine rebounds. Center Matt Bonner had 21 points while shooting eight of nine from the field. Rookie Malik Hairston, meanwhile, finally had his breakout game as he chipped in 12 points for the Spurs.
In spite of the loss, Baron Davis still delivered with a game-high 22 points. With little help from his teammates, however, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Spurs. Travis Outlaw was the only other Clipper able to break into the double-digit scoring column by contributing 17 points on top of 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
Hill did a lot of first-quarter damage to the Clippers by dishing out eight assists, helping the Spurs built a 32-18 advantage. In the second quarter, the Spurs continued their mastery over the Clippers by building a 22-point cushion. At halftime, the Clippers managed to trim down the lead to 17, 65-48.
The Clippers displayed signs of life in the second half as they were able to cut the lead down to 13. The Spurs quickly went back to business as they started sharing the ball more, resulting in wide-open shots. By the start of the fourth quarter, the Spurs were comfortably ahead, 90-68.
The Spurs have won six of their last seven games and briefly moved into 6th place over the Suns. With 14 out of their remaining 18 games being against teams with records of .500 or higher, the Spurs will need to win as many matches as they can in order to stay in Playoff contention.
The Clippers, on the other hand, have lost seven straight games while winning only one out of their last ten. Clippers coach Kim Hughes commented that there were only four players who were ready to compete in tonight’s game on his team. He also said that the season is not yet done and the players have to compete no matter what.
Notes: The Spurs currently have four former D-league players in its roster: Malik Hairston, Ian Mahinmi, Cedric Jackson, and Garrett Temple.
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