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For the San Antonio Spurs, last night's 113-110 loss to the L.A. Clippers at Staples Center was a defeat that could sting a team for numerous reasons.
According to ClutchPoints' own Tomer Azarly, Spurs legendary head coach Gregg Popovich was most upset with San Antonio's lack of discipline against the Clippers, especially down the stretch of the game.
“That's a tough loss. We can't give up 41 points in a quarter, especially in the fourth quarter of a basketball game on the road, but we were very undisciplined,” coach Popovich said. “We shot 39 free throws, I think, and the defense caved in in the fourth quarter. So if you're going to give up 41 points in a quarter and foul consistently when you don't need to foul, you'll probably lose that basketball game. Very disappointing, but our lack of discipline really hurt us, and I thought their aggressiveness, their physicality was great, and they did a great job.”
No matter what aspect that you focus in on when it comes to Tuesday's loss, this was simply a game that the Spurs let get away. Despite being up by as many as 19 points over the Clippers with just five minutes remaining in the second quarter, and even up seven with three minutes remaining in the game, San Antonio squandered leads away as Los Angeles took the lead back midway through the third quarter and then again in the final moments of the game.
The Spurs (45-33) had a strong response and eventually took an 83-72 lead into the final frame, but the San Antonio defense fell apart and played some very sloppy basketball against a Clippers team that was fighting for their playoff lives.
Looking for redemption, San Antonio will play the second game of a back-to-back tonight at Staples Center when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers.
