The significantly undermanned Lakers were overwhelmed by the Spurs in a 136-108 loss on Tuesday night. It’s the second loss in a row with one more game left until the All-Star break.
The game started as
we all expected, with Victor Wembanyama dominating. After a 3-pointer from Julian Champagnie to open the scoring for San Antonio, Wemby scored 17 straight points.
Kobe Bufkin had five points, while another welcome sight for LA was Jake LaRavia draining two 3-pointers.
Wemby was unstoppable, though, and finished the quarter with a ridiculous 25 points. The Spurs were shooting 66% from the field, while the Lakers shot 50%.
Despite being down big, LA had a balanced scoring effort with everyone except Maxi Kleber and Jarred Vanderbilt putting some points on the board.
Going into the second period, Los Angeles was down by 17.
San Antonio started the second quarter, continuing their offensive onslaught with an instant 6-0 scoring run.
LaRavia was the first Laker in double figures with 10 points. However, he also had four fouls. The rest of the quarter was cardio, with a few spots here and there of decent offense from the Lakers that didn’t do a single thing to cut into the deficit.
At halftime, the purple and gold were down by 29 while Wemby had 37 points.
Rui Hachimura started the third period with a jumper for LA. The Spurs converted on three 3-pointers, two of which were from Harrison Barnes. LaRavia’s night was over quickly as he fouled out with 10 points.
Wemby had been scoreless for the first half of the quarter, but ended up draining a 3-pointer to hit 40 points for the night shortly before checking out.
Los Angeles did go on a nice 8-2 scoring run as the quarter ended. Kennard led LA with 14 points, while Hayes was close behind with 13 points. Going into the final frame, the Spurs were up by 34.
The fourth quarter saw both teams bringing in the depths of their benches to close out the final 12 minutes. Adou Thiero was back from injury and threw down an impressive dunk off an assist from Bronny James.
LA’s youngins put on a fun show, going on a 15-2 scoring run, until San Antonio’s bench responded with a 9-0 run to restore their dominant order.
Key Player Stats
Kennard had 14 points with five assists. Hayes ended with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. LaRavia finished with 10 points and two rebounds before fouling out.
Bufkin pitched in with seven points and two rebounds. Drew Timme notched 14 points, going 5-8 from the field. Bronny James put up 12 points with six assists.
The Lakers’ next matchup will be against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday at 7:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
