Austin, Texas – Darrun Hilliard and Jaron Blossomgame surpassed the 20-point plateau but it wasn’t quite enough as the Spurs ended up falling by two points, 94-92, inside the confines of the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park against the Agua Caliente Clippers.
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THE BASICS
· How to Watch: Facebook Live – Austin Spurs Fan Page
· Score: Agua Caliente Clippers 94, Austin Spurs 92
· Records: Clippers (12-7) | Spurs (11-8)
· Date: Thursday, December 21 | 7:30 p.m. tip-off CST
· Location: H-E-B Center at Cedar Park | Austin, Texas.
· Attendance: 2,401
· Officials: Justin Van Duyne, John Conley, Robert Hussey
· Get Social: Twitter – @spursonsixth | Facebook – Spurs on Sixth
TURNING POINT
Holding another 16+ point lead at the break Thursday night for the second straight game, the Spurs looked to be in full control. But only scoring 13 third quarter points made this a whole new ball game. The Clippers ended up outscoring the Spurs 22-19 in the fourth quarter, which included holding Austin scoreless for the last 2:54 to steal a 2-point victory in Austin on Thursday.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
· Austin shot 45 percent (34-for-76) from the floor, while the Clippers were 36-of-85 (42 percent) from the floor in its 2-point victory.
· The Spurs went 9-of-31 (29 percent) from beyond-the-arc in the loss and went 15-of-19 (79 percent) from the charity stripe. The Clippers, meanwhile, were 6-of-20 (30 percent) from downtown and went 16-of-21 from the charity stripe (76 percent).
· The Spurs reduced their team turnovers by 10 from last game to this game, finishing with just 19 team turnovers versus Agua Caliente.
· Austin dished out 16 assists compared to the Clippers 10.
· Both teams recorded eight steals respectively.
INSIDE THE FLOW
· The Spurs versus Clippers saw 11 ties and 11 lead changes
· In a tale of two halves, the Spurs managed to have its biggest lead of the game at the break; up by 17 points
· After the Clippers outscored Austin by 16 in the 3rd quarter, Austin found themselves with just a 1-point lead after three quarters of play.
· A Jean-Charles turnaround hook shot with 5:11 to go in regulation put the Spurs up by two (90-88).
· JJ O’Brien managed to hit a go-ahead pullup jumper with 4:15 to go to take a 91-90 lead.
· Costello managed to hit back-to-back free throws with just under three minutes left for a 92-91 Spurs lead.
· After a successful O’Brien and-1 play, the Clippers found themselves down 94-92 with 1:40 to go.
· The Spurs managed to miss their last five shots to suffer the 2-point loss at home to the Clippers.
NOTABLES
· Tyrone Wallace was the high-point man for ACC with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, eight rebounds, three assists in 32 minutes of action.
· O’Brien and Tyler Roberson combined for 30 points on 13-of-19 shooting; Roberson’s 13 points coming off the bench.
· Starting backcourt for Spurs was outscored 34-14 by Agua Caliente.
· In his second game with Austin since being assigned by San Antonio, Derrick White registered six points, four rebounds, and four assists in 28 minutes of playing time.
· Hilliard finished with a team-high 22 points; his 13th consecutive game surpassing the 20-point plateau.
· Jaron Blossomgame also surpassed the 20-point mark with his 21 points on Thursday night, including 8-of-10 from the floor, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
· Costello added seven boards in 22 minutes.
UP NEXT
· The Spurs hit the road for the first time since December 5th as they travel to Memphis to take on the brand new Memphis Hustle on Dec. 22 at 7:00 p.m. CST.