The end of March is almost here and that means that the San Antonio Spurs, that team in the NBA that everyone loves to ignore, is ratcheting things up for another long playoff run.

While many people had the Spurs left for dead at the start of the year due to injuries to their dynamic backcourt of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, things appear to be looking up yet again and the Western Conference appears to be wide open aside from the likely top seed the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Spurs will welcome a bad (what else is new?) LA Clippers squad to town on Friday night and they will be giving 11 points in the matchup.

Despite the hefty spread, the Spurs are the best bet in this matchup because of their dominance at home and the motivation factor over the Clippers who are ready to pack it in for another season and to get ready to watch the ping pong balls fall yet again.

The Clips are just 8-28 away from the Staples Center this year (if you even want to call that shared arena their home) while the Spurs are 25-11 at home despite all the key injuries they’ve suffered this season.

The Clippers don’t have the kind of defense needed to keep the Spurs’ top-notch backcourt in front of them and when they break down the defense, that leads to easy rebounds and other scoring opportunities for Tim Duncan, arguably the best power forward in NBA history. Duncan is not quite his old explosive self but he’s even more savvy than usual and he knows how to get it done, especially against lesser teams that can’t match his basketball IQ.

Zach Randolph isn’t likely to get a whole lot done on the inside for the Clippers, in fact he might end up being a detriment to the team because Duncan has the skill and size on defense to get in his face and shut him down just about whenever he feels like it.

The Spurs are about ready to flip the switch and a good home blowout is usually the precursor to big runs down the stretch of the NBA season. Look for San Antonio to try and make a statement tonight at home against a lowly Clippers team they have the ability to handle with ease.