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SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN: DECEMBER

Clippers.com has analyzed the schedule after its release earlier this month and also took a look at 10 of the biggest games for the coming season. Now, this latest series takes a closer look with a monthly breakdown of the schedule.

Rowan Kavner

Previous Breakdowns: October/November | January

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – Remember all those home games in November? Not so much during the holiday season.

The Clippers have only four home games total and two separate five-game road trips in the month of December. This will be when the Clippers get acclimated to the Eastern Conference, with nine games coming against East teams, including two against the Bucks.

Among all that travel is a particularly exhausting stretch at the end of the month, which includes two separate back-to-backs. That five-game trip begins in Los Angeles, goes as far east as Washington, D.C. and Charlotte and comes back through New Orleans before returning to the West Coast for the start of January’s slate of games.

The Clippers will have a TNT game at Chicago on Dec. 10, two straight ESPN games at home Dec. 16 against the Bucks and on the road Dec. 18 at San Antonio and then another ESPN game Christmas against the Lakers.

December will also mark the first time the Clippers travel to San Antonio and Houston since playing both teams in last season’s playoffs. They’ll have to play the Spurs and Rockets in a back-to-back in the middle of the month.

December Breakdown

Games – 16
Home – 4
Road – 12
Against playoff teams – 7

Most home games in a row – 2 (home stand extending from end of November)

  • Dec 2 vs Indiana
  • Dec 5 vs Orlando

Most road games in a row – 5 (twice)

  • Dec 7 @ MIN, Dec 9 @ MIL, Dec 10 @ CHI, Dec 12 @ BKN, Dec 14 @ DET
  • Dec 25 @ LAL, Dec 26 @ UTA, Dec 28 @ WAS, Dec 30 @ CHA, Dec 31 @ NOP

Back-to-backs – 4

  • Dec 9 @ MIL/Dec 10 @ CHI
  • Dec 18 @ SAS/Dec 19 @ HOU
  • Dec 25 @ LAL/Dec 26 @ UTA
  • Dec 30 @ CHA/Dec 31 @ NOP

Key matchups

Dec 18 @ San Antonio – This will mark the first time the Clippers and Spurs play since last season’s epic first-round matchup, which ended with a Game 7 winner from Chris Paul. Both teams reloaded this offseason, with the Spurs adding LaMarcus Aldridge and the Clippers adding a bevy of talent. This matchup will be the first of a back-to-back, preceding a reunion of sorts for Josh Smith and Pablo Prigioni back in Houston a night later.

Dec 25 @ LA Lakers – Any Christmas game will draw in eyes, and the Clippers and Lakers will compete on Christmas night with the 7:30 p.m. game. The odds are in the Clippers’ favor, as they haven’t lost to the Lakers since the start of the 2013-14 season. Last year, the Clippers redeemed an early loss to the Warriors by beating Golden State at home on Christmas.

Dec 30 @ Charlotte – With a lot of new additions, there will be plenty of reunions this season for Clippers players. The Clippers and Hornets will take part in the Global Games in China this year, but this will mark the one and only time Lance Stephenson returns to Charlotte to play his former team, while the Clippers will see a familiar face in Spencer Hawes.

Most memorable win last year

Dec. 9, 2014 vs Phoenix – This might’ve been the loudest Staples Center was at any point during the regular season last year. Blake Griffin scored a season-high 45 points, none more important than the final three. Griffin hit 10 3-pointers last season, two of which came against the Suns on this day, with the final one hitting off the front of the rim, grazing off the backboard and falling through at the buzzer to give the Clippers the 121-120 win in overtime. “You just have to have the confidence to take a shot like that,” Griffin said.

Toughest stretch

Dec 16-Dec 21 – It takes a tough stretch of games to stand out above two separate five-game road trips as the most grueling part of the schedule, but three straight games against playoff teams and a fourth against a team that will likely be in playoff contention this year will do that. The stretch begins against at home Dec. 16 against the up-and-coming Bucks. The Clippers get a day of rest and travel before a road back-to-back at San Antonio and Houston before coming back home to play a now-healthier Oklahoma City squad Dec. 21.