betprepare.com

The Spurs are having a crisis

The current champions lost four games in a row, and since the schedule doesn't become easier in the following days, it won't be easy to end the crisis without the two key starters

Getty Images

After staring the season with 13-4 ratio, the San Antonio Spurs lost seven out of the following 11 matches, including four in a row, which didn't happen since 2011. The reason lies with the numerous absences, but also the tough schedule. In the last four games, they faced the teams among the best six of the West right now, and will have a few more tough matches in the near future. On Friday, they played three overtimes against the Blazers, and coach Gregg Popovich decided to rest the entire starting five on Saturday. It cost the Spurs a 99-93 defeat in Dallas.

- We have to think long term - the Spurs coach said.

The new starting five (Joseph, Belinelli, Anderson, Diaw, Baynes) only spent five and a half minutes on the court against the Mavs, but the match still went to a thriller ending. The Spurs' resistance was only broken in the last two minutes when the home team made a 6-0 series and finally won after about ten futile attempts.

Getty Images

After the match, coach Popovich wasn't happy with the big number of turnovers (19) that Mavs used to get 25 points. The Spurs have 17.5 turnovers in this negative series, which is a lot higher than the season average (14.8), and in every of the last three games, those cost them 20 points.

- We allowed them 25 points because of our mistakes, and you can't win like that. However, I think these guys fought tremendously - the current champions' coach said.

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tiago Splitter should be back in the team, but Tony Parker (16.0 p/g) and Kawhi Leonard (15.2) will watch the match from the bench again. The French missed eight out of the last nine games because of a hamstring injury, and the last year's MVP watched five out of the last seven games as a civilian because of the hand problems.

The Spurs are in the danger of losing the fourth game at home in a row, something that didn't happen since 2002. The Los Angeles Clippers will try to push them to that record, but they themselves weren't that brilliant on Saturday when they barely defeated the Bucks with the final 106-102 result. Doc Rivers' guys allowed the guests to score 53.1% field goal, and when they needed it the most, they only kept them to 19 points in the last period. 

The Clippers are one of the most efficient teams of the league (106.4), and have 16-2 ratio when they limit their opponents to 102 or less points. In the last six games, they forced the opponents to 17.2 turnovers, which doesn't sound great for the Spurs who obviously have problems saving the ball.

- I think it's because we score a lot of points. I'm trying to convince the team that the defense is a key to success. When you save the hoop, it's a lot easier to score on the other side, and when you don't, you get problems you have to deal with - Doc Rivers said.

On the way to the 89-85 win in LA a bit over a month ago, the Spurs had only eight turnovers, and were lead by Leonard who had 26 points. Duncan added 18. On the other side, Blake Griffin stood out with 23 points, and Chris Paul only had 12. It was the fifth win for the Spurs in the last six duels, but considering the current state in both camps, it would seem that the LA guys are slight favorites tonight.