San Antonio Spurs Fall Silent On Offense, Lose to LA Clippers in Blowout Fashion

The San Antonio Spurs suffered a 40-point loss on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday as a majority of their offensive weapons struggled to find the bottom of the bucket — and their teammates.

The night of San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama's first road game was supposed to attract a crowd — and that it did. 

But instead of that crowd, granted it was mostly comprised of Los Angeles Clippers fans, getting a showdown between the generational rookie and LA's big-three, it saw a blowout. And that was clear almost immediately.

San Antonio shot poorly from the floor all night, and Wembanyama was largely absent on the stat sheet as the Spurs fell 123-83 in their first lopsided contest of the season.

Oct 29, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George (13) dunks for the basket ahead of San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena / © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Through three quarters, San Antonio only managed to muster up 60 points on offense, largely due to a 37.5 percent shooting clip all around, while Los Angeles shot over 50 percent from the floor and scored 34 points from turnovers to keep a size-able lead throughout the entirety of the game. 

From the jump, Clippers forward Paul George found his groove, scoring seven quick points in the first quarter to give the Clippers a lead they never gave back after going down by three points on a Keldon Johnson 3-pointer to open up scoring. 

Los Angeles didn't look back the rest of the way, but it didn't need to. 

Six different players for the Clippers finished the game with double digits, including George, Kawhi Leonard — who led the way with 21 — Russell Westbrook, Ivica Zubac, Norman Powell and Bones Hyland in what became an all-around performance from the home team. Together, the Clippers' "big-three" combined for 59 points. 

The same could not be said about San Antonio. Only three players finished in double digits — Wembanyama, Devin Vassell and Cedi Osman — and the Spurs generally underperformed in the half court. They gave up 25 total turnovers, only managed to score 30 paint points to the Clippers' 54 and even got out-rebounded by Los Angeles.

By halftime, the Clippers had themselves a 19-point lead, and for all intents and purposes, that was already a blowout. But it got worse, as Los Angeles added to its lead, ballooning it to as many as 31 late in the second half. 

The fourth quarter saw a bench-emptying for the Spurs, as Blake Wesley, Doug McDermott and even Julian Champagnie got in on the scoring action, but despite their best efforts, Los Angeles had built itself too large a lead to lose, and secured the 123-83 victory at home. 

With the loss, San Antonio falls to 1-2 on the season, and Wembanyama walks away without his first career road victory — something that could happen during the Spurs' back-to-back series against Phoenix beginning Tuesday. 

If that's the case, San Antonio would also come away with a big-time Western Conference win and positive momentum. But they'll have to wait for that.

Tipoff from Footprint Center is set for Tuesday night at 9 p.m. CST.