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Spurs hope to end slide with Clippers in town

Dec 22, 2014 - 2:42 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Antonio Spurs look to put the brakes on a season-high four-game slide when they host the Los Angeles Clippers Monday at the AT&T Center.

The defending NBA champion Spurs have lost five of their last six games and dropped a 99-93 decision to the rival Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, as Rajon Rondo made his Big D debut and recorded six points, seven rebounds and nine assists to lead the hosts.

The Spurs sat much of their roster after losing back-to-back triple-overtime games on Wednesday and Friday to Memphis and Portland. Missing Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Danny Green and Tiago Splitter, the Spurs were paced by Marco Belinelli's 21 points.

Aron Baynes chipped in a career-high 16 points to go with 10 rebounds, while Cory Joseph and Matt Bonner each had 14 points for San Antonio, which shot 41.6 percent. The Mavericks posted 25 points off 19 San Antonio turnovers and erased an 89-86 deficit with a 13-4 run.

"I thought we were great," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We could have handled the ball better. Giving up 25 points off turnovers on the road is not going to make it easy to win a game, but I thought the effort and the play out of these guys was really spectacular."

San Antonio has lost four in a row for the first time since a six-game skid March 23-April 1, 2011, and will try to stop a three-game home losing streak Monday with Los Angeles in town. The Spurs are 8-4 in the Alamo City and will also welcome Oklahoma City to town.

The Spurs should have their regulars back on the floor versus the Clippers, but Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss tonight's game with a hand injury.

Duncan is 13 points shy of passing Reggie Miller (25,279) for 17th on the league's all-time scoring list.

Los Angeles will play two straight on the road against San Antonio and Atlanta, and has lost three straight as the guest. The Clippers are 8-5 away from home this season.

The Clippers prevailed their last time out with a 106-102 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday and were led by Chris Paul's 27 points and nine assists. Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick scored 24 and 23 points, respectively, and DeAndre Jordan added nine and 16 rebounds.

"We really needed to get this one. We got into the bonus early in the fourth quarter, that was huge," said Paul, who is 22 points away for 12,000.

Paul will become the first player in NBA history to record 12,000-plus points and 6,000 or more assists in 650 games or fewer if he reaches the milestone in any one of LA's next six games. CP3 is four assists away from passing Norm Nixon for 24th on the all-time list.

LA, which reached 100 points for a fifth straight game and is fourth with 106.4 ppg this season, shot 45.7 percent from the floor against the Bucks and scored 18 points off 20 Milwaukee turnovers.

The Clippers have won 12 of their last 15 games.

San Antonio recorded an 89-85 victory over the Clips on Nov. 10 at Staples Center and was led by Leonard's 26 points and 10 rebounds. Duncan had 18 points and 11 boards in that one, while Griffin scored 23 points.

San Antonio is 25-5 in the last 30 matchups in this series.