A huge night from LaMarcus Aldridge powered the San Antonio Spurs to a 122-111 victory over the LA Clippers (21-15) at the Staples Center on Saturday night.

The victory saw San Antonio bounce back from a loss to the Denver Nuggets less than 24 hours earlier as the Spurs finished their final road trip of 2018 with a win and a 6-12 road record overall.

Here is what went good and bad for the Spurs, as well as three standout players: Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, and Derrick White.

The Good:
  • The Spurs bounced back from a tough loss 24 hours earlier in Denver, where missed free throws were the biggest error that cost them a win.
  • Speaking of free throws, San Antonio went 90 percent from the charity stripe. Overall, going 28-for-31.
The Bad:
  • Davis Bertans struggled to shoot the ball, going 1-for-5 on the night.
Three Standout Players:

LaMarcus Aldridge:

The Spurs forward put the team on his back Saturday night as he powered the Silver and Black to the win.

Aldridge finished with a season-high 38 points on 63 percent shooting, going 14-for-23 from the floor. He had no trouble going up against Montrezl Harrell or Boban Marjanovic in the paint as he took the ball to the hole early and often. His teammates found him as he had the hot hand early and the rest was history.

“I just played my game,” Aldridge said. “When you go up against undersized guys, you have a tendency to rush things. I looked at film [after the first game here] and took my time when we played them at home. Tonight I did the same thing.”

DeMar DeRozan:

DeRozan finished with 25 points on 9-for-19 shooting, including a couple of thunderous dunks. He added 13 rebounds and six assists as he went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

The fourth quarter saw him do what he has done his entire career and take over. He scored six straight points for the Spurs and found Aldridge in the paint for the easy score.

“We’ve been more consistent throughout games,” DeRozan said. “Our confidence is definitely showing when we go out there and play defense like we knew we could.”

Project Spurs illustration

Derrick White:

The second-year guard continues to show his improvement and growth as he had another solid outing at the office.

White finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, and six assists – just one night after having another great stat line in Denver.

There is no doubt he will only get better with a healthy Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker IV next to him on the court.

UP NEXT:

The Spurs are now 20-17 on the season and will return to the court on Monday night when they welcome the Boston Celtics (21-14) to the AT&T Center at 6 p.m. Central Time.

1 COMMENT

  1. The reports I have read are saying that Aldridge weigh in at about 260 lbs, he needs to bring it down at least 7 to 10 pounds, he is going to wear himself out quicker, with a higher chance of injury.

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