The San Antonio Spurs pulled out a hard-fought win in their last game to continue their surge toward the top of the Western Conference.

They may not have as much trouble holding off an injury-plagued Los Angeles Clippers team that's in the midst of a season-high losing streak and has always struggled in San Antonio.

The Spurs go for their 15th win in 18 games Thursday night when they host the Clippers, losers of eight straight overall and 11 in a row at the AT&T Center.

Despite trailing for only one possession, San Antonio (23-11) was never able to pull away during a 91-84 win over Miami on Monday night. The Spurs built a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but had to make 10 of their 17 field-goal attempts in the fourth to hold off the Heat, who rallied several times.

"These guys have been there before," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Spurs. "They're a seasoned, veteran team that's played in a lot of big games. You could tell how much poise they have out there. They're totally calm in these type of situations. They've experienced it so many different times."

The performance wasn't the Spurs' most impressive one of the season, but it was enough to get them their 14th win in 17 contests, a surge that's made up for a slow start caused partially by injuries to All Star guards Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

"We managed to find a way tonight," forward Tim Duncan said after leading San Antonio with 19 points and nine rebounds Monday.

The Spurs have found plenty of ways to beat the Clippers (8-26) over the years. San Antonio leads the series 104-28 and 58-8 at home. Los Angeles has lost all 11 of trips to the AT&T Center since it opened in 2002.

The Clippers could have a hard time snapping their skid in San Antonio on Thursday, with Baron Davis (tailbone), Zach Randolph (knee) and Chris Kaman (foot) expected to remain sidelined. Ricky Davis will also be out while serving the third game of a five-game suspension for violating the NBA's drug policy.

Without most of their top players, the Clippers lost 107-102 at Dallas on Tuesday night. Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki blocked a shot and made a go-ahead jumper in the final minute to hand Los Angeles its season-high eighth straight defeat.

"I'm really proud of our guys, how hard they played and what they did," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "A couple of bounces didn't go our way, a couple of calls didn't go our way and the Mavericks pulled one off."

Each of the first three losses during the Clippers' slide came by at least 22 points, but Los Angeles has dropped the last five by two, eight, eight, one and five points.

Though they seem to be getting closer to a victory, they claim that's no consolation.

"We stopped believing (in moral victories) a long time ago," second-year forward Al Thornton said after scoring 25 points against the Mavericks. "We just need to learn how to close games out."

They weren't able to do that in their first meeting with the Spurs this season. Guard Roger Mason made a 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds left to give San Antonio an 86-83 victory in Los Angeles on Nov. 17.

Duncan had 20 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots in that game.