NBA Predictions: Los Angeles Clippers vs. San Antonio Spurs

Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio Spurs
Monday, 11/19/12, 8:30 PM EST, TV: FSSW
Opening Point Spread: San Antonio -5
Current Betting Line: San Antonio -4.5
Opening Total: 199.5
Current Total: 198
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

The San Antonio Spurs have one of the best benches in the NBA due to Manu Ginobili

Los Angeles will put its five-game win streak on the line Monday night, which includes a 106-84 blowout win over San Antonio as 1.5-point home underdogs on Nov. 7. The Clippers certainly used the motivation of getting swept out of last season’s playoffs by tonight’s opponent, which could carry over into this contest. “We still remember what they did to us a couple months ago,” stated Clippers center DeAndre Jordan. Los Angeles is 6-12 ATS as a road underdog of 3.5 to 6 points the last two-plus seasons, which is an important angle to handicap when making your NBA picks against the spread.

The Clippers 22-point win over the Spurs was their largest margin of victory in 146 regular season meetings, as they’ve still lost 32 of their last 37 games in the series, which includes postseason play. Los Angeles will look to get the ball into Blake Griffin’s hands, as he’s averaged 20.9 points and 11.0 rebounds in seven regular season games against San Antonio’s Tim Duncan.

San Antonio has won all three of its home games versus Western Conference opponents this year, which includes a 126-100 victory over the Denver Nuggets as six-point favorites on Saturday, while going OVER the total for the third time in four contests. “It’s a lot of fun, for any team, when shots are going in,” stated Spurs guard Danny Green. The Spurs own the conference’s best record with a 7-1 mark, while Duncan leads all active players with 736 career double-doubles. San Antonio is 2-4 ATS when revenging a blowout loss versus an opponent by 20 points or more.

The Spurs are certainly worthy of being listed as a home favorite on the pro basketball odds page, considering their bench is outscoring opponents by 12.3 points per game this season. San Antonio will need a scoring spark out of guard Manu Ginobili, who scored a game-high 20 points last time out, as he managed to hit 5 of 7 shots from beyond the arc.