Five takeaways from the Clippers’ victory over the Spurs

Here are five takeaways from the Los Angeles Clippers’ impressive 98-87 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night at Staples Center.

1. To his credit, Blake Griffin stayed the course for the Clippers when his shot did not fall.

Griffin missed five of his six shots from the field in the first quarter, but he still kept on shooting.

Griffin then missed three of his four shots in the second quarter, but he still kept tossing up his shots despite making only two of 10 shots in the first half, missing all three of his attempts from three-point range.

Then Griffin found the range in third quarter, when he made three of five and finished seven for 19 for the game, although he again missed his three-point shot in the second half.

The All-Star power forward stuck to it and finished with 18 points.

2. Jamal Crawford has been looking to get back on track.

The Clippers’ super sub did so against the Spurs, scoring 12 points off the bench by making half of his 10 shots.

3. Doc Rivers tied Mike Dunleavy for the most regular-season wins as a coach in Clippers’ franchise history. Both have guided the Clippers to 215 victories.

4. The Clippers knew the importance of taking care of the basketball against the Spurs.

So by turning the ball over only eight times against San Antonio’s strong defense, the Clippers made sure they had more opportunities to score.

5. It was a game in which not a lot of free throws were taken.

The Clippers converted eight of 14 (57.1%) from the line while the Spurs made 11 of 14 (78.6%) from the line.