The Los Angeles Clippers, who have the No. 5 scoring offense in the NBA, have had their roll slowed quite significantly in December. After averaging 118.5 points per game in November, the Clip Show has scored just 107.5 points per game in December, has been held under 100 points in three of its last four and opens as a 2.5-point underdog to San Antonio tonight.
- The Spurs have the No. 3 scoring offense in December (117.2 points per game).
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of LA Clippers’ last 5 games when playing San Antonio.
- San Antonio has the top free-throw percentage in the league (83.2 percent).
Clippers Are Without Their Top Ball Distributor
Assists leader Lou Williams left the game vs Phoenix on Monday and then missed the Raptors game on Tuesday. Since then, it’s been revealed that his injury could keep him out for another couple of weeks. On top of his playmaking ability, Williams was the Clippers’ leading scorer in their 116-111 win over the Spurs a month ago.
Leading scorer Tobias Harris, who is shooting over 50 percent on the season, has seen his production drop from 22.1 points per game in November to 18.7 in December while shooting just 42.1 percent this month. Harris was held to 18 points in the first meeting.
Spurs Have Hit Their Offensive Stride
In contrast to the Clippers’ offensive falloff, San Antonio is having its best offensive month of the season by averaging 117.2 points per game in December, up almost 12 points from 105.6 points per game in November when the team went 5-10 SU.
DeMar DeRozan is leading the team in scoring with 25.2 points per game in December (a couple of games against the defensively loose Lakers didn’t hurt that number) but scored just five points in 26 minutes against Phoenix on Tuesday.
The Spurs are on a betting heater at home lately, going 4-1 SU and ATS at AT&T Center. San Antonio has an unreal free-throw percentage of 89.7 in December, a full 10 percentage points better than tonight’s opponent. With a low spread like 2.5, those free points with the clock stopped are always crucial.
My Pick For Tonight
I’m backing the Spurs as a 2.5-point favorite on home court. These teams are trending in opposite directions with the Clippers going 1-5 ATS in their past six games on the back of the aforementioned anemic offense. The Spurs, meanwhile, have covered three straight spreads, including winning games SU as the underdog vs the Lakers and Jazz.
