Clippers have more at stake than Spurs in Saturday matchup

The Los Angeles Clippers will still be in must-win mode when they face the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

The same thing cannot be said of the Spurs, who already clinched the second playoff seed in the Western Conference. They're more interested in getting themselves healthy and in the correct rhythm for the postseason.

The Clippers (48-31) are fighting the Utah Jazz for the fourth spot in the West and were a half-game behind Utah entering play on Friday.

Los Angeles and Utah will likely square off in the first round of the playoffs. It's just a matter of which team will get home-court advantage. If they're tied at the end of the regular season, the Clippers own the tiebreaker.

Los Angeles heads to the Alamo City on the heels of Wednesday's 112-101 home win over Dallas and two days off, which is rare this late in the season.

Blake Griffin scored 32 points and J.J. Redick added 25 for the Clippers, which won their fourth straight game and eighth in the past 10 outings.

Griffin had one of his best performances of his injury-plagued season, going 11 of 14 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range.

After playing in San Antonio, Los Angeles returns home to finish the season against Houston and Sacramento.

"We're no longer playing (other) teams -- we're playing ourselves," Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said. "Home court is important, but someone isn't going to get it. We will be ready no matter what."

Both Chris Paul (22 points and 11 assists), and DeAndre Jordan (11 points and 20 rebounds) posted double-doubles for the Clippers against the Mavericks, with Jordan getting his 38th double-double of the season.

Jordan said the Clippers' defense set the tone that allowed them to collect the win.

"We came out and got stops to give J.J. and Blake opportunities to score early," Jordan said. "When we play with intensity, especially defensively, you get results."

San Antonio returns home after a rollicking 102-89 victory on Friday in Dallas in which the Spurs (61-18) won despite sitting out seven players.

Four of those were starters, including its top two scorers -- erstwhile MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Bryn Forbes led San Antonio with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field. Davis Bertans scored 19 points and David Lee had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Spurs had five players in double-figure scoring and three with at least 10 rebounds.

San Antonio trailed 64-50 at the half but outscored Dallas 25-8 in the third quarter.

Eight of San Antonio's 18 losses this season have come to teams below .500.

"It's going to be a long (final stretch)," Spurs guard Tony Parker said. "You have to stay in rhythm and stay focused and try to keep good habits. You don't want to start playing bad headed into the playoffs."

The Spurs have not lost three straight games this season, but they will have to play better down the stretch to keep that mark intact.

Saturday's game is their home finale in the regular season. After facing the Clippers, San Antonio plays at Portland on Monday and at Utah on Wednesday.

"We are going to be playing some teams that are playing for seeding, so I think those teams are going to approach those games as a playoff game," Spurs forward/center Pau Gasol said. "We have to utilize those opportunities to meet that intensity and approach it the same way."