April 18--When the San Antonio Spurs took their show on the road this season, the defending NBA champions didn't exactly overwhelm opponents.
So if the Spurs are to defend their crown, they will have to bear down on the road.
As the sixth seed in the Western Conference, the Spurs don't have the home-court advantage for their first-round playoff series against the third-seeded Clippers.
It means that somewhere along the way in the best-of-seven series that starts Sunday, the Spurs will have to win a game at Staples Center.
San Antonio was barely an above-.500-team away from home, owning a 22-19 record when not playing at the AT Center, the third-worst mark among the eight Western Conference playoff teams.
"We're comfortable playing on the road," San Antonio's Tim Duncan said. "We've been through just about every situation possible. We have the capacity and the experience to deal with starting a series on the road. We'll focus up. We've got a game-plan being put together right now. We're confident that we can play."
As they should be.
The Spurs did go 21-4 in their last 25 games. This was after going 19-18 during a stretch during the middle of the season.
"We still have to go out and win road games to get to the championship game," San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard said. "It's just on a different side of the table."
broderick.turner@latimes.com
