NBA Basketball: San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers

By BetOnline October 31, 2019

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We’re still in the very early going in the NBA basketball season but only two undefeated teams remain. In the East, it’s the Philadelphia 76ers. In the West, it’s the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are off to a 3-0 start this season and they’ll try to keep their undefeated run going on Thursday night when they head to the Staples Center to take on the public’s NBA betting darling, the Los Angeles Clippers.

Although the Spurs have yet to lose this year it’s important to keep it all in context. They were able to play their first three games at home and two of their opponents were non playoff teams from last year–the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards. They did beat Portland 113-110 last time out and will definitely be well rested entering this matchup having last played on Monday. One thing the Spurs *haven’t* done yet this season is cover a NBA pointspread–they’re 0-3 against the number winning by 9 over the Knicks as -10.5 home favorites, by 2 over the Wizards as -11.5 home favorites and by 3 over the Blazers as -6 home chalk. They’re a +5 underdog in this game on the overnight line. They face a tough scheduling stretch coming up as they’ll play the second of a back to back in Golden State on Friday before returning home to take on the LA Lakers. They’ll head to Atlanta for a one-off game against the Hawks on Tuesday which could be a tough matchup if Trae Young can go for the home team.

The Spurs do catch the Clippers in the second of back to back games having been thumped in Utah by the Jazz last night. The Jazz held the Clippers to under 100 points for the first time this season, winning 110-96 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City and covering as -7 home favorites. The Clippers played without Kawhi Leonard who is apparently not going to play in back to back situations this season. Not sure about the logic of not playing their best offensive threat against the defensively nasty Jazz but he’ll be back in the lineup here.

LA is now 3-2 on the year while the Jazz have shot to the top of the Western Conference with a 4-1 record. This notwithstanding, the Clippers look fine so far this year. Given the ridiculous amount of hype they received in the offseason it was inevitable that they’d be perceived by some as a ‘disappointment’ but keep in mind that Paul George is still sidelined after off season shoulder surgery. Although the limelight is all on Kawhi Leonard don’t forget that the Clippers have excellent depth. They were a playoff team last year without Leonard and can bring very good players such as Lou Williams, Maurice Harkless and Montrezl Harrell off the bench.

The Spurs have some talent–when he’s in the mood to play LaMarcus Aldridge can be a tough matchup for any team and no doubt DeMar DeRozan still wants to get the better of Leonard and any team he plays for. Plus it’s not like the Spurs will ever get outcoached with the great Gregg Popovich at the helm. Even so, the Spurs sure look overvalued in the early going. The Clippers essentially ‘picked their spot’ by sitting Leonard in Salt Lake City and there will be considerable motivation for the team to not lose and drop to .500 on the season.