SAN ANTONIO — For eight minutes Friday, the Clippers played like the team that left training camp openly declaring its championship aspirations — their long-armed defenders forcing consecutive stops on one end, their litany of shooters blowing open a lead with ruthless efficiency on the other.
For the final 40 minutes, though, they looked like the team they have actually been since the season's start — uneven, uncomfortable, unexpectedly missing a key player and unable to hold onto a lead.
It was San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich who, in September, playfully suggested that his team — widely expected to be among the teams playing for the No. 1 pick ahead of a draft headlined by French phenom Victor Wembanyama — might not be the best Las Vegas bet for a championship season. But nine games in, it's the Clippers' preseason expectation of being one of the West's top contenders that has continued to look shaky.
