The Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night got a huge win in Portland, a comeback from 18 points down in the second half to beat the Trail Blazers 74-71. The win helped the Clippers keep pace with the red-hot San Antonio Spurs, who have won nine straight games and currently lead the Clippers by a game for second place in the Western Conference.
| NBA Western Conference Standings | ||||
| Rank | Team | W-L | Pct | GB |
| 1 | Oklahoma City | 22-7 | .759 | --- |
| 2 | San Antonio | 21-9 | .700 | 1½ |
| 3 | LA Clippers | 19-9 | .679 | 2½ |
| 4 | Dallas | 19-11 | .633 | 3½ |
| 5 | LA Lakers | 17-12 | .586 | 5 |
| Through games of February 16 | ||||
The Clippers and Spurs will face each other in a battle of division winners on Saturday afternoon at Staples Center. The Clippers have had their problems in San Antonio, losing 17 straight road games to the Spurs, including a 115-90 loss on December 28. But they have also fared poorly against the Spurs at home in recent times. The Clippers beat the Spurs 90-85 on December 1, 2010, but that snapped a nine-game home losing streak to the Spurs.
Overall, the Clippers have lost 19 of their last 20 games against San Antonio. But snapping streaks has been a hallmark of this Chris Paul-led team, who have snapped losing streaks in Denver (nine games), Utah (16 games), and Portland (six games) this season, as well as snapping an overall nine-game losing streak to Orlando.
Saturday afternoon at Staples Center should be a fun one.
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