The Clippers played well with the lead for three quarters against the NBA's defending champion Spurs.
They played perhaps their best defensive performance this season.
That was progress.
But all the good the Clippers had done until then was undone by the fourth quarter, where the Doc Rivers-coached Clippers missed 10-of-14 shots and had seven turnovers.
"They basically gave us a clinic down the stretch on how to close out a game," Chris Paul said. "The tough part was our turnovers. That was very uncharacteristic of us turning the ball over like we did, and they converted."
The Spurs didn't take their first lead of the game until there was 104 seconds left after a Blake Griffin turnover led to a Kawhi Leonard layup. Ten seconds later, another Griffin turnover led to another Spurs basket on the other end, and the Spurs won, 89-85 at Staples Center.
The Clippers had a chance at the end when Paul missed a layup with five seconds left, Griffin got the rebound and in the scrum fell to the court and called timeout from the floor, but the Clippers had none left.
This loss must sting more than the Golden State loss, where the Clippers were dominated from start to finish. They were never in that game.
Monday night against the Spurs, they had control, even if they couldn't extend their lead. The Clippers rebounded from that loss in Golden State to play well and beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. It seems every time the Clippers (4-3) make progress, much of that momentum is lost the next game.
This time, it was lost in the final quarter.
Paul had two of those fourth-quarter turnovers, as did Jamal Crawford and Griffin. Kawhi Leonard stole the ball from Paul while he was dribbling on the wing with 52 seconds left and a 3-point Spurs lead. Leonard reached in to get a hand on the ball, it went off Paul's shoe and Leonard and the Spurs were off to the races, capped off with a Manu Ginobili layup to give San Antonio an 87-82 lead.
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That was deflating. Seemingly much more than all of those Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson baskets.
The Clippers never built a lead of more than 10 points, and putting away teams has been another source of frustration.
"It was a tough one," Crawford said, who started for the second consecutive game. "We definitely had our chances where we could have really built on the lead and we didn't take advantage. It was a struggle. Both teams, I am not sure shot well. They found a way to win."
And the Clippers didn't find a way to win. Defensively, they limited the Spurs to making just seven of their first 28 shots. The Spurs shot just 39 percent from the field. The Clippers even outrebounded the Spurs, 44-39. It was the first time they outrebounded an opponent this season.
For all that good, it didn't add up to a win.
"We had too many empty possessions in the last five minutes," Rivers said. "I thought the Spurs executed well. The score was 89-85 so we didn't exactly play great offensively. To hold them to around 39 percent (shooting), and we shot 45 percent, we feel like we should have won the game."
Except for all those errors in the end. That hurts.
"We weren't sure," Paul said of the miscues down the stretch. "I think that's going to come."
The Spurs played like a defending champion team but only down the stretch. With the win, the Spurs got their first road win this season and moved to .500 through six games.
The Clippers had moments and flashes, followed by a puzzling finish.
"It's frustrating, but we're seven games in," Griffin said. "We'd rather have it at this time than 80 games in, 82 games in or the playoffs."
