They left it closer than it should have been until the bitter end of this one, but eventually the Los Angeles Clippers saw off the San Antonio Spurs 131-126.
Gregg Popovich’s young charges gave as good as they got, showing pace and aggression as they executed time again on drives and back cuts, but eventually experience — and the presence of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George mostly — rose to the fore.
Here are the takeaways from game one of this weekend in Texas…
Defense to offense
Despite being a top five defensive team in the league for much of the first part of the season, the script has been flipped in recent weeks as Ty Lue’s squad are allowing teams to score against them at will.