The San Antonio Spurs (3-3) look to get above .500 for the first time with a win in LA against the Clippers in Game 7 of their 2024-2025 season. It will be the first of four games against the basketball stepchild from Los Angeles, and even though Paul George has left the team, playing against them is not a given. This is a talented team that can pose serious challenges for Spurs.

While the Silver and Black field a very young roster, the Clippers team is loaded with veterans. San Antonio will have to be careful to make sure their lack of experience doesn’t show up in a late road game (9:30 CDT) on the West Coast. Neither squad is at full strength, but that makes the team unpredictable at times, so a lot of attention to detail will be needed.

There’s nothing new to report on the injury front for the Silver and Black, and that’s a good thing. Spurs have played one back-to-back and haven’t had more than one day off between their games so far, but Victor Wembanyama has suited up for every game. This is more evidence that San Antonio isn’t interested in wrapping Wemby in plastic; they want him to play.

The Clippers don’t have a long injury list, but the name on the report is the most important, but not at all surprising.

Kawhi Leonard has yet to play this season as he continues to recover from the seemingly irreparable. That knee has bothered Klaw for years, and as the San Antonio medical team predicted many moons ago, it will continue to bother him for the rest of his career. It’s an unfortunate reality for Leonard, but a reality nonetheless.

The Clippers are 2-4 so far this season without Leonard in the lineup and have lost their last three games in a row. They opened their own arena this season for the first time in franchise history – the Intuit Dome – but they have yet to win a game in their brand new building.

They were close in every loss except their last, which isn’t surprising considering the opponent was OKC. LA has shown a somewhat inconsistent knack for scoring points, with over 110 points in three of their six games, but it appears they are having some pecking order issues at the end of games.

Deciding who gets to shoot the ball between James Harden and Norman Powell in 2024 must be a special form of torture for Clippers fans.

It’s clear that San Antonio wants to take advantage of these issues and add to the win column, but after that the Clippers need to get their act together. Remember, the Oklahoma City Thunder own the rights to LA’s unprotected first-round pick in the 2025 draft. The last thing the Spurs need is OKC adding a lottery pick from one of the highest-rated draft classes in recent history.

Whatever happens this year, Spurs will have the opportunity to restructure in a major way this summer. There is no need for OKC to move further away once we take steps to close the gap.

As for the Clippers, San Antonio’s youth could show up on the offensive side due to the long travel and late game, but the defense travels and they have been great on that side of the ball. As long as they keep this up, they should win this game.