Game Preview: Spurs look to reach 50 wins against the Clippers, but they’ll be without a pair of key bench players

SAN ANTONIO — The 50-win milestone used to be a frequent destination for the San Antonio Spurs, who in the Big Three Era averaged 54 wins a season during their run as one of the most consistently successful teams in the history of the NBA. 

The last decade? Not so much. The Spurs have averaged just 34 wins a season between 2017 and 2025, bottoming out with consecutive 22-win campaigns. 

But having already secured their first winning season in eight years and at least a spot in the Play-In Tournament, the Silver & Black now have their first opportunity to notch 50 victories since 2016-2017, when the roster boasted the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard and Pau Gasol. A victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night – the team’s first road game after a 5-1 homestand – would represent a benchmark for Victor Wembanyama and company in their pursuit of returning to the league’s mountaintop. 

It’s a telling number for San Antonio playoff success, too: Since 2000-2001, the Spurs have won 50 games in 17 different seasons and won at least one playoff series in 14 of those years. 

At 49-18 and No. 2 in the West, the Spurs are continuing the hot streak they’ve been on for nearly two months. The team has lost just two games since the start of February as they look to keep pace with – and potentially overtake – the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

The Clippers (34-33, eighth in the West) have been hot too, sporting a 7-2 mark in March. One of those losses came at the hands of the Spurs, who rallied from a 25-point deficit to snatch the win on March 6. 

San Antonio is coming off a 115-102 win over the upstart Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. 

Wembanyama came close to notching his second triple-double of the season, finishing with 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. He’s thrust himself further into the MVP conversation as of late, having averaged 28.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.1 blocks and 3.1 assists on 54% shooting in March. 

“I think he’s really embraced understanding how he can dominate the game and create advantages for others, whether that’s screening, passing, spacing,” head coach Mitch Johnson said of Wembanyama’s play after Saturday’s game. “The defense at some point has to commit to taking away something. Depending on what that is or what they do, it presents him with an opportunity because he is so skilled and so dominant in so many ways.”

San Antonio goes into the nationally televised matchup missing two key bench pieces. Backup center Luke Kornet (6.7 points, 1.1 blocks this season) and rookie Dylan Harper  (11.2 points, 3.8 assist this season) are both out, per the Spurs. 

But LA will also be without Leonard, its All-Star forward, which should level the playing field after he scored 30 against San Antonio in the teams’ March 6 matchup. 

Here’s what to know before tipoff on KENS 5. 

The game will be nationally televised on Peacock as well as available to watch on KENS 5. You can also listen to game action on WOAI 1200 and KXTN 1350. 

• POINTS: Victor Wembanyama (24.3), De’Aaron Fox (19.1), Stephon Castle (16.6)
• REBOUNDS: Wembanyama (11.2), Luke Kornet (6.2), Julian Champagnie (5.8)
• ASSISTS: Castle (7.0), Fox (6.3), Dylan Harper (3.8)
• BLOCKS: Wembanyama (3.0), Kornet (1.1), Champagnie & Devin Vassell (0.4)

• POINTS: Kawhi Leonard (28.3), Bennedict Mathurin (20.1), Darius Garland (19.0) 
• REBOUNDS: Leonard (6.3), Mathurin (6.1), John Collins (5.1)
• ASSISTS: Garland (6.0), Kris Dunn & Leonard (3.7), Sean Pedulla (3.0)
• BLOCKS: Isaiah Jackson (1.3), Derrick Jones Jr. & Brook Lopez (1.1), Collins (0.8)

As of Monday afternoon, here’s where the team’s respective injury reports stack up:

• Dylan Harper – OUT (calf contusion)
• Luke Kornet – OUT (knee soreness)

• Kawhi Leonard – OUT (ankle sprain)
• Yanic Konan Niederhauser (lisfranc ligament tear)

1. The Clippers and Spurs are two of the NBA’s five highest-scoring offenses over their last 10 games, scoring 121.1 and 120.9 points per game, respectively. 
2. But the Spurs have been better on the defensive side of the ball in that stretch; San Antonio has a 110.8 defensive rating over their last 10 games (seventh in the NBA) compared to LA’s 113.2 (13th). 
3. The Clippers are 3-10 when Leonard sits this season. 
4. The Clippers are shooting 83% from the charity stripe this season, best in the NBA. The Spurs, at 78%, are 18th. 
5. Bennedict Mathurin, the 23-year-old guard who could start in place of Leonard on Monday, is averaging 24.2 and 6.2 rebounds over his last five games, while hitting 46.9% of his shots.