NBA Game Preview - San Antonio at LA Clippers
Thu Oct 31, 2019 10:30 PM EDT

MIA
106
ATL
97
F
DEN
107
NO
122
F
SA
97
LAC
103
F
Leonard ready to lead Clippers vs. former Spurs teammates
Thu Oct 31, 2019 4:06 AM

Kawhi Leonard will try to lead his new team, the Los Angeles Clippers, to a win against one of his former teams, the visiting San Antonio Spurs, on Thursday night.

After Leonard spent seven seasons in San Antonio, his relationship with the organization deteriorated, and he was traded in July 2018 to the Toronto Raptors in a deal that sent DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs.

Leonard went on to lead the Raptors to their first NBA title last spring in a surprising six-game victory against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. The Spurs, meanwhile, were eliminated in the first round by the Denver Nuggets.

Leonard then signed with the Clippers in the offseason.

In the first of their two head-to-head matchups last season, DeRozan delivered his first NBA triple-double while leading the Spurs to a 125-107 victory in Leonard's return to San Antonio on Jan. 3.

They met again on Feb. 22 in Toronto, and Leonard ripped the ball from DeRozan before scoring the go-ahead points on a dunk with 15 seconds left in the 120-117 win.

The Clippers rested Leonard on Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City and faded in the second half of the 110-96 loss.

"Our goal is to have (Leonard) playing and being fresh all year, and we're doing that so far," Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters before the game against the Jazz.

San Antonio is also being careful with the workload of Dejounte Murray, a first-round pick from 2016 who missed last season after tearing his ACL in the summer of 2018.

Murray will sit out one of the two games in back-to-back situations this season -- the Spurs play at Golden State on Friday -- and will average about five minutes per quarter, at least through the first 10 games.

Murray is averaging 14.7 points in 23 minutes through three games, but Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he plans to stand firm on the medical staff's desire to limit Murray's exertion during the early part of this season.

"One game isn't that important to put him out there when the docs feel he shouldn't be," Popovich said after the win against Portland.

San Antonio has been off since beating the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Monday to improve to 3-0.

Like the Clippers, the Spurs caught the Trail Blazers on the second night of back-to-back games, but it was Portland who had better legs down the stretch, cutting a 19-point deficit with 5:48 remaining to three with 40 seconds left. However, the Trail Blazers couldn't get any closer while falling 113-110.

Two nights earlier, the Spurs were in a much tighter battle throughout the fourth quarter against the visiting Washington Wizards before hanging on for a 124-122 victory.

The Clippers added more depth when shooting guard Rodney McGruder made his season debut against the Jazz after missing the first four games with an ankle injury. McGruder, who spent the past three seasons with the Miami Heat, missed all three field-goal attempts and went scoreless in 18 minutes.

Lou Williams, getting a rare start, led Los Angeles with 24 points Wednesday.

--Field Level Media

Team Record Comparison

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