Clippers Blow 25-Point Lead in Stunning Collapse Against Spurs
SAN ANTONIO – There are tough losses, and then there’s what happened to the Los Angeles Clippers Friday night at Frost Bank Center.
The Clippers held a 25-point lead in the second half and completely fell apart down the stretch, as Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs stormed back for a 117-112 victory that would sting for a long time.
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Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting, along with nine rebounds and three steals, but it wasn’t enough to prevent one of the worst collapses of the season for Los Angeles.
Brook Lopez added 26 points on an efficient 11 of 19 from the field and made four threes, while also contributing six rebounds and four steals in one of his best outings of the year.
Clippers cruise early, then hit a wall
The Clippers looked like a completely different team in the first half, shooting the ball well and taking a comfortable 66-46 lead into the break.
It was the largest halftime deficit of the season for San Antonio, a team that had led at halftime in 42 of its 63 games Friday.
Lopez set the tone early with nine points in the first quarter on a mix of floaters, fadeaways and stepbacks, and Los Angeles pushed the lead to as many as 25 points when they went up 75-50 in the third quarter.
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Everything was working and it felt like the Clippers were in total control of the game.
San Antonio flips the script
Then the fourth quarter arrived.
The Spurs opened the final period with an 18-5 run that completely erased the huge deficit and gave them their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.
Wembanyama was the driving force behind that comeback, finishing with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks while playing with the kind of toughness that has made him one of the most dominant young players in the league.
He crushed a Kris Dunn reverse layup that created a fast break, which ended with an alley-oop dunk by Carter Bryant, and Devin Vassell followed with a three-pointer to give the Spurs a 99-97 lead.
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Julian Champagnie was outstanding off the bench with 20 points and nine rebounds, shooting 5 of 8 from three-point range, and De’Aaron Fox had 19 points and nine assists to fuel the offense.
An incredible finish
The last minute was a real roller coaster.
Leonard hit two free throws to give the Clippers a 109-108 lead with 1:17 left, but Wembanyama responded with a three-point basket to put San Antonio back up 111-109 with 54.7 seconds left.
After Leonard missed a three-pointer in the final seconds, Wembanyama broke free for an uncontested dunk that increased the lead to 113-112 with 16 seconds remaining.
The Clippers still had a chance, but Nicolas Batum turned the ball over on the inbounds play when his foot crossed the line, and it was basically the ball game.
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Stephon Castle put the finishing touches on the victory by rebounding his own missed free throw and converting a layup with just one second left.
The loss drops the Clippers to 30-32 on the season and ends a three-game winning streak as they continue to battle for a playing spot in the Western Conference.
San Antonio improves to 46-17 and has now won 14 of its last 15 games, sitting in second place in the West behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Clippers will look to bounce back quickly when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.
