San Antonio Spurs vs Los Angeles Clippers live stream: Watch NBA live on TV, preview, start time

The San Antonio Spurs (23-5) will travel to the Los Angeles Clippers (21-8) as two top-3 seeds in the western conference clash at the Staples Center on Thursday evening.

The big news from the Clippers camp is that star forward Blake Griffin underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Dec. 20 and will miss 3-6 weeks of action. Incidentally, the Clippers fared better last season in Griffin's absence; the all-star appeared in only 35 games last season due to multiple injuries.

And coach Doc Rivers is hoping that the team can continue to flourish without the power forward, the way they triumphed against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. During that game, veteran Paul Pierce was inserted into the starting unit while Brandon Bass, Marreese Speights and Wesley Johnson saw additional playing time.

Los Angeles Clippers are without Blake Griffin

Star centre DeAndre Jordan emphasised the importance of the team's bench and said they were armed to stay competitive without Griffin. "That is why we have such a deep team this year. You don't want to go through injuries this season, and there is no way we can replace Blake, but guys just step it up. This year, I feel like we have some firepower off of our bench.

"Guys like (Marreese Speights) and Brandon Bass are going to be ready to play. It is going to be exciting to have this challenge and go with it," said Jordan, one of the leading candidates for Defensive Player of the Year, via ESPN.

The Clippers have had the better of San Antonio in recent years. Ever since they beat Gregg Popovich's team during the 2014-15 playoff series, they've had somewhat of a psychologic edge over the Spurs. On Nov. 6, the Clippers beat the Spurs 116-92 in what was the first of four regular season meetings between the teams. During that game, Blake Griffin dropped 28 points in just 29 minutes to lead San Antonio's rout.

Since that early season loss to Clippers, the Spurs have responded strongly, winning 17 of their last 20 games including the most recent 102-100 win over James Harden and the Houston Rockets. With 12.9 seconds left in the game, Australian guard Patty Mills made a clutch three to help San Antonio prevail.

"I have no clue (how I got open)," said Mills, crediting Manu Ginobili for making a spectacular pass. "I didn't do anything other than just stand there. It was a hell of a pass. It was a broken play. It was what we work on all the time, driving and kicking. Manu did a great job of getting into the lane."

At 15-1, the San Antonio Spurs own the NBA's best road record. Therefore, they will enter the match as overwhelming favourites despite the Clippers' impressive 10-4 home record. This nationally-televised game comes just a few days before the Christmas weekend which will see the Clippers square off with rivals Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

San Antonio Spurs vs Los Angeles Clippers live stream: How to watch

Start time: 10.30 PM (ET), 7.30 PM (PT), 1.30 PM on Friday (AEST), 2.30 PM (AEDT)
On TV: TNT (USA), ESPN 2 (Australia)
Live Stream: NBA League Pass (Global), Watch ESPN (Australia)