ESPN

ESPNLA.com reporters Pedro Moura and Arash Markazi preview what to watch for in Saturday's 12:30 p.m. PT Game 3 between the Clippers and Spurs at the Staples Center.

They discuss the status of injured Clippers Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and the biggest things the Clips did wrong in losing Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio. Then they provide their predictions for the two weekend games between the two teams.

We asked our Facebook and Twitter audience what adjustments the Clippers need to make to beat the Spurs in Game 2. The responses were as creative as you would expect, so we Storified it. See who had the best advice.

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When the game was over and Chris Paul was changing in the visitors locker room of the AT&T Center in San Antonio, his 2-year-old son, Chris, came up to him and said, “You did a good job.”

Paul, putting on his suit, corrected him and said, “No, I did a bad job.”

The San Antonio Spurs had just defeated the Clippers 108-92 in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series, and Paul was still upset at himself for finishing with just six points on 3-of-13 shooting along with five turnovers, five steals, three assists and 10 rebounds.

“He don’t know no better,” Paul said of his son. “I got every shot that I wanted and I think that’s the good thing about tonight. I didn’t knock them down but that happens sometimes. This is Game 1; we’re going to go back to the drawing board and see what we did well and see what we didn’t do well and get ready for Game 2.”

As upset as Paul was with his performance, there was no real reason to believe the Clippers would beat the Spurs on Tuesday night. Every statistical analysis, historical comparison and logical reasoning going into the game said the Spurs would win and it wouldn’t even be close.

Over the past 20 years, when teams playing with six or more days off play a team with one day of rest, they are 8-0 in the postseason with an average winning margin of 21.6 points. The Spurs, coming off an eight-day layoff, also had won their previous 14 games, winning by an average margin of more than 17 points. And the Spurs had lost just once to the Clippers in San Antonio over the past decade, including an 18-game winning streak prior to this season.

Although the final score might not indicate it, the Clippers came out with more fight than most would have expected of a team that had just played a Game 7 on the road 48 hours earlier. The Clippers held a lead in the second quarter, and even after the Spurs took a 19-point lead to start the fourth quarter, the Clippers stormed back and were within eight points with less than eight minutes left in the game.

“If you’ve watched them, they always come back,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “They don’t fold. That’s just a credit to their team. They just keep on playing and stick within the system, and they’ve come back many, many times, as we’ve all seen. That’s who they are.”

The Clippers have come back from double-digit deficits 15 times this season, which is the most in the league, but they wouldn’t be able to recreate their Game 1 “Miracle in Memphis” in San Antonio. Not when Popovich was calling timeouts during the Clippers’ run, and berating every player and cameraman in sight until San Antonio finished the game on an 18-10 run to comfortably pull away as Paul and Blake Griffin finished the game on the bench.

“They are pesky,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said of the Clippers. “They are tough. They pressure you. They force you to turn the ball over. They do that very well. They are that kind of team that pressures the ball and forces you into making bad decisions. It’s something we’re going to have to improve.”

Not only were the Clippers hurt by a rested Tim Duncan, who scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but they were hurt by San Antonio’s outside shooting, which did not show any ill effects from an eight-day layoff. The Spurs connected on 13 3-pointers, which tied the franchise playoff record, set in 2007. Against Memphis, the Clippers gave up 24 3-pointers over the seven-game series. The Clippers also have to shore up their effort on the offensive boards, as they once again were outrebounded overall 47-34. The Clippers now have given up at least 11 offensive rebounds in seven of their past eight postseason games.

“They just beat us,” Paul said. “We didn’t play effective.”

The lone silver lining for the Clippers was the play of backup guard Eric Bledsoe, who scored a career-high 23 points, and had five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Nick Young added 13 points off the bench for Los Angeles. The Clippers’ “Goon Squad” of Kenyon Martin and Reggie Evans likely will not be as effective against the Spurs as they were against Memphis. San Antonio will spread the Clippers out, and essentially take Evans and Martin out of the game by forcing them to play in the middle and run out to 3-point shooters. Case in point, Evans played only 8 minutes Tuesday, and finished with four fouls, three rebounds and zero points.

In the end, Tuesday’s Game 1 could prove to be a microcosm of this entire series. The young, scrappy Clippers will play the Spurs tough and give them a good challenge but simply won’t have enough to finish off a team that has won 117 playoff games and four championships over the past 15 years, which is second only to the Los Angeles Lakers. Meanwhile, the Clippers just won their second playoff series since 1976, 48 hours ago.

This series might end up being more about gaining experience and building for the future as much as it is pulling another upset for the Clippers. Just don’t tell that to Paul, who still remembers being ousted by the Spurs the only other time he advanced past the second round, four years ago.

“We missed a lot of bunnies; we missed a lot of little layups and floaters in the lane,” Paul said. “We didn’t get to the free throw line enough. We came in here in the locker [room] and felt like there were some good things that we did. We just have to stay the course.”

It has been almost 15 years since Los Angeles Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro last played for the San Antonio Spurs, but he’s still far more synonymous with the Silver and Black than any of the other eight teams he has either played or coached for during his basketball career.

In fact, when the Spurs played the Clippers earlier this season, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich admitted that Del Negro’s name is still uttered in practices all the time, but maybe not for reasons Del Negro would like to hear.

“Some of the stuff we do on defense, we actually have one thing we call on the pin downs, we say we’re going to ‘Del Negro it’ and that’s in his honor and we’ve done that for 15 years,” Popovich said. “We have a Del Negro defense out there because he couldn’t play a lick of D. At times we had to invent something just to hide him, so we call it ‘Del Negro’ and you do certain things on the court and everybody has to make up for that guy who’s the ‘Del Negro.’”

Popovich doesn’t really consider Del Negro a protégé the same way he does former Spurs assistant coach and current Lakers head coach Mike Brown. “He’s not a protégé,” Popovich said. “We never coached together but I was able to coach him.”

Del Negro spent his best six years as a player in the NBA in San Antonio but left the team after the 1997-98 season and missed the Spurs’ first NBA title in 1999. He still talks to Popovich regularly and watches the Spurs' games as often as possible. After San Antonio beat the Lakers 121-97 last month, Del Negro smiled at a group of reporters after the game and said, “Did you watch the Spurs?! Whooo!”

“We’ve always kept in touch with each other,” Popovich said. “We’ll share things and try to support each other and everything because he’s a wonderful guy. He understood the game, he wasn’t very quick but he really knew how to play the game, especially pick-and-roll and that kind of thing. He knew what was going on out there on the floor. When you’re around guys like that or Avery Johnson or Steve Kerr, you know if they want to they can coach someday because they really understand what’s going on.”

Popovich couldn’t remember if he talked about coaching with Del Negro at the end of Del Negro’s career in San Antonio, but figured it probably came up in conversation at some point.

“I assume I did. It was so long ago,” Popovich said. “I do that with a lot of my players to see what they want to do when they’re done. Some guys want to do [it] and other guys are smart enough to realize they [don’t] want to do it because there’s more to life than coaching.”

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LOS ANGELES -- Even though Chauncey Billups was lost for the season 39 days ago, the thought of the Los Angeles Clippers possibly trading for a replacement in Nick Young wasn’t hatched until 10 days ago.

It was a deal the Clippers, in need of a big shooting guard, wanted to make. And it was a trade Young, a Los Angeles native who played at Cleveland High (in nearby Reseda) and USC, wanted the Clippers to make.

In the end, however, it seemed as though it wasn’t going to happen. As much as Clippers general manager Neil Olshey coveted Young and thought he could help the team, he wasn’t prepared to part with any of the assets he wanted to protect currently and in the future. Those assets included second-year guard Eric Bledsoe, future first-round picks and players currently ingrained in the rotation, such as guards Mo Williams and Randy Foye.

As of 11:15 a.m. in Los Angeles, Olshey was ready to move forward with the Clippers’ roster before he got a phone call from Washington Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld. The Clippers were back in the mix if they wanted Young, and the price tag was more than reasonable. They could get their talented 26-year-old starting shooting guard, and all the Clippers had to give up was a future second-round pick, which they got from the New Orleans Hornets in the Chris Paul trade, and Brian Cook, who has played all of 16 games this season, averaging 1.9 points and 1.4 rebounds.

Basically the Clippers were getting Young, who is averaging 16.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 32 starts this season, for nothing to complete a larger three-team deal between the Wizards and Denver Nuggets that sent Nene Hilario to the Wizards and JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf to the Nuggets.

“I was actually surprised, I didn’t think there was any way we were going to be able to acquire a player like Nick Young for a future second-round pick,” Olshey said. “Nick has wanted to be here for a long time. He was motivated to come here. Clearly, it was part of a bigger deal and we needed to make the math work for Washington and Denver to complete their transitions.”

Olshey said he thought the deal was dead last night when he went to bed and anticipated the Clippers would not make any deals. That is, until 45 minutes before the NBA trade deadline, when Grunfeld called him. Olshey had already informed Clippers owner Donald Sterling about the prospect of the deal Wednesday night and Sterling had signed off on it.

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Clippers (22-15) vs. San Antonio Spurs (26-12) at AT&T Center, 5:30 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Tailspin: On its own, Chris Paul’s ill-fated pass to San Antonio Spurs guard Gary Neal for a game-tying three-pointer three weeks ago (which led to the Spurs' improbable comeback win) would have been bad enough, but what has transpired since then has been even harder for Paul and the Clippers to swallow. Since Feb. 18 the Clippers have lost six of nine games including their last two on the road. Not only are they losing games but much like they did against the Spurs, they are relinquishing late leads and losing close games. In fact, their last three losses have been by a combined five points with their last two losses being decided by just a single point.

2. The list: Longtime Clippers announcer Ralph Lawler goes up to Paul before every game in which the Clippers have an especially long losing streak against the opponent or in a building where they haven't left victorious in years. It was something Paul had asked Lawler to do earlier in the season when he was continually asked about the team's long losing streak against, well, everyone. Lawler won’t have to remind Paul of the streaks today, he has already heard them this season. The last time the Clippers won in San Antonio was 2002 and they’ve only won their once since 1997. The Clippers have also only beaten the Spurs two times overall (both in Los Angeles) since 2003. The Spurs beat the Clippers, 115-90, in the second game of the regular season back on Dec. 28.

3. Spurs connection: Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro is still a beloved figure in San Antonio, having played there for six seasons of his 12-year career. In fact, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich still uses Del Negro’s name to this day when he is coaching his team. “We actually have one thing on defense we call on the pin downs where we say we’re going to ‘Del Negro’ it and that’s in his honor and we’ve done that for 15 years,” Popovich said. “We have a ‘Del Negro’ defense out there because he couldn’t play a lick of D. At times we had to invent something just to hide him so we call it ‘Del Negro’ and you do certain things on the court and everybody has to make up for that guy who’s the ‘Del Negro’.”

4. Playoff seeding: Entering their game three weeks ago, the Clippers and Spurs were essentially tied for the No. 2 seed but since then the Spurs have held on to the second spot in the West while the Clippers have dropped to the No. 4 seed, mere percentage points ahead of the Lakers at No. 5. Despite winning 20 of the past 21 meetings with the Clippers, Popovich would rather have to face the Clippers in the postseason. “They’re a real physical team. They have a real edge. I love the edge that they have,” Popovich said. “They’ll knock the hell out of you and continue to play. It’s not just dunking the basketball but it’s knocking the hell out of you on cuts, grabbing at you and making the referees make calls, rebounding and going after it. That’s the first impression I get with these guys. Now they have the head to go with all the talent with Chris, obviously. I don’t know if there’s a better leader on the court or somebody who knows what the hell is going on at this particular time or this score or with this much time on the clock or this situation. He understands all those things intuitively and that’s a hell of a talent to add.”

5. Griffin effect: Clippers forward Blake Griffin had 28 points and 17 rebounds in the Clippers’ loss to the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday but rolled his left ankle late in the game. He will, however, start Friday against San Antonio. Popovich said the Spurs have to be aware of Griffin in transition and make contact with him early. “If you let him run free you have no shot because Chris or Mo [Williams] is going to find him and they’re going to throw it up in the air he’s going to go up in the air and you can’t get there,” Popovich said. “So you have to maintain contact with him in transition at all times. In the half court, you have help people. Do you want him going to the rim or do you want him to hit a jump shot. It’s something he works on all the time and he’s going to get better and better but given a choice you’d rather have him shooting a 20-footer than taking it the hole and you don’t have to be a genius to figure that out and he knows that and that’s why he works on his shot. Once he gets that down, he’ll be impossible. He’s ridiculous now but he’ll be impossible.”

Clippers (19-9) vs. San Antonio Spurs (21-9) at Staples Center, 12:30 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Measuring stick: For The past 15 years the Spurs and Clippers have been on opposite ends of the spectrum in the NBA, and their head-to-head record certainly reflects that. The Clippers have only one win against the Spurs in their past 20 meetings and suffered through an 18-game losing streak to San Antonio from 2006-10. The Clippers have also only won once in San Antonio since 1997. The Clippers suffered one of their worst losses of the season against San Antonio at the beginning of the season when the Spurs beat them 115-90 on Dec. 28. The Spurs are currently on a 10-game winning streak, the longest current run in the NBA, and a win Saturday would move them a step closer to the best record in the West. A Clippers win, however, would move the Clippers past the Spurs for the second-best record in the conference.

2. Comeback kids: The Clippers came back from an 18-point deficit Thursday to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 74-71. It was the Clippers’ biggest comeback win of the season and their largest comeback victory in three years. One of the biggest differences between this year’s team and those that have faded in the past has been the Clippers’ ability to close out games on the road. The Clippers’ rally in Portland is the team’s fifth road win since Jan. 29 in which they have come back from a deficit of 10 or more points. This season, the Clippers have battled back from double-figure deficits six times. Before this season, the Clippers' past four road wins in which they overcame a double-digit deficit came in four different years.

3. Spurs influence: No other franchise in the NBA has had a greater influence over the Clippers recently than the San Antonio Spurs. They are the team the Clippers have tried to model themselves after culturally and philosophically after Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was hired two years ago. Del Negro played with the Spurs from 1992-98, helping lead the Spurs to the playoffs on five occasions. Two of Del Negro’s assistants, Marc Iavaroni and Howard Eisley also played for the Spurs. Del Negro credits Spurs coach Gregg Popovich with helping mold his coaching philosophy and says he always wants them to win, except when they play the Clippers.

4. Board game: Last month around this time, the Clippers were dead last in the league in rebounding. Since then Reggie Evans has returned from an offseason injury, Kenyon Martin was signed as a free agent and the Clippers now find themselves 15th in the league in rebounding. The Clippers have dominated the glass in their past five contests, outrebounding their opponents 242 to 179. The Clippers are 4-1 in that span and have outrebounded their opponents in eight straight games and have had more offensive rebounds in six straight games. That advantage should continue against the Spurs, who are 19th in the league in rebounding.

5. Foye not feeling it: When Chauncey Billups was lost for the season, Randy Foye was inserted into the starting lineup so only one position would be altered by the loss. Del Negro did not want to move Mo Williams, who is in the running for Sixth Man of the Year honors, from the bench to the starting lineup, and has no one to provide a scoring punch off the bench. The problem, however, has been that Foye has not embraced the role of being a starter, at least statistically. In his past three games Foye is 5-of-26 from the field (19.2 percent) despite being a career 41.2 percent shooter. His streaky play has forced Del Negro to lean more heavily on Williams, who is averaging 13.7 points and 3.4 assists. Williams has accounted for 51.7 percent of the Clippers’ bench scoring this season and is shooting 45.6 percent from the field.