The Lakers fell apart in the second half, giving way to a 126-102 win for the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
Anthony Davis ended the game with 30 points, 13 rebounds, two steals, two assists and two blocks. LeBron James scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds and dished eight assists. Austin Reaves had a rough night, going 4-14 for 12 points.
Gabe Vincent ended with seven points and two rebounds. Dorian Finney-Smith notched four points with three rebounds and two steals. Max Christie scored 10 points.
AD opened things up with a putback dunk while the Spurs turned the ball over a few times. Austin then went on a 5-0 run to put the Lakers up by seven early, forcing a timeout by the Spurs. San Antonio started heating up with Victor Wembanyama scoring nine points early, helping his team jump ahead with the lead.
Despite the Lakers shooting 53% from the field, the Spurs went up by seven. L.A. was struggling with its defense. Gabe hit a much-needed 3-pointer to bring the Lakers closer. At the end of the first, Los Angeles was down by two.
The offense was supercharged for both teams to start the second. Wemby and LeBron started putting on a show. A three by Wemby followed a three by LeBron. A few minutes later, LeBron put Wemby in the blender for a layup.
Cam Reddish joined the 3-point party, making one of his own. Austin threw a lob to Max Christie for a dunk that gave the fans a jolt of energy. At the first timeout, the Lakers were ahead by six. Dalton Knecht converted on a three-point play, getting fouled on a fastbreak dunk after he stole the ball on the other end.
L.A. maintained great offense throughout the quarter with decent defense to keep San Antonio at bay. The purple and gold were having a great night from behind the arc, ending the half shooting 40%.
At halftime, the Lakers were up by nine.
During the break, the Lakers honored Michael Cooper by retiring his jersey number. Once play commenced, San Antonio opened up the second half with excellent offense.
They made it a two-point game early. After six tries, Max finally knocked down a 3-pointer on his seventh attempt. Both teams were shooting more than 50% from the field. The Lakers were struggling with their free throws at 60%.
Spurs rookie Stephon Castle was having an impressive game, going nine for 12 from the field for 21 points, so far.
Los Angeles’ defense woes continued, letting the Spurs inch closer. AD began to take over for L.A., scoring four straight points. Max added another 3-pointer to extend Los Angeles’ scoring run to 7-0.
The Lakers suddenly fell apart, letting the Spurs get back into the game with a 10-0 run. Gabe knocked down a shot to stop some of the bleeding. Once it was a tie game, AD drained a 3-pointer, but Keldon Johnson responded with one of his own at the buzzer to make it a tie game again.
Keldon converted on an and-1 to open the final frame. The Spurs were now in charge. The scoring run extended to 13-4 for San Antonio, forcing the Lakers to call timeout to regroup. It was a struggle for L.A. to find points and play defense to stop the Spurs, who were playing tremendous ball.
Nothing went right for the Lakers who fell behind by double digits. A well-executed fastbreak, ending with a layup by AD, made it an 11-point deficit. Wemby scored on a layup which was followed by a 3-pointer by Devin Vassell, who was up to 23 points for the night.
San Antonio’s lead kept growing as they had taken over the momentum completely. With two minutes left, it was not looking good for the purple and gold and they emptied their bench.
Key Takeaways:
Free throws are free, make them.
Where was the defense? Nowhere to be found.
Six turnovers in the third shifted the momentum away from the Lakers. Turnovers are often the reason why this team falls apart. They need to figure out a way to play cleaner.
The Lakers’ next game will be Wednesday against the Miami Heat at 7:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
