The Lakers snapped their winning streak with a 107-91 loss against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
LA started this game with a turnover, but rectified it with a midrange jumper from Luka Dončić. Julian Champagnie was the leading scorer for San Antonio with seven points. LA cut the seven-point lead the Spurs built on the shoulders of Luka, who was having a stellar first quarter with nine points.
Gabe Vincent knocked down a 3-pointer after missing his first attempt.
Luka was also up to three
assists, one of which was an alley-oop to Jaxson Hayes for an emphatic reverse dunk. Both teams were shooting nearly identically from the field, with LA shooting 47% and San Antonio shooting 46%.
At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down by three.
The Spurs extended their lead, going up by seven again to start the second period. The Lakers were on a long four-minute scoring drought. The only points they could conjure up were three free throws from Luka.
Jake LaRavia broke the drought with a much-needed 3-pointer that pulled LA to within one. He then knocked down another one, putting Los Angeles up by two.
Luka’s stayed dominant in the first half, scoring 19 points. The only other Laker to score well was LaRavia with 6 points. Los Angeles couldn’t keep control of the momentum they had built, allowing Keldon Johnson to cook them. He had 14 points off the bench for San Antonio.
At halftime, LA was down by five.
De’Aaron Fox scored a quick six points for the Spurs early in the third period. Vanderbilt scored four straight for LA, providing his usual energy and spark. Despite cutting the deficit again, Los Angeles couldn’t keep their momentum, allowing the Spurs to go up by seven.
Luka was still the only Laker in double figures with 29 points. Los Angeles’ bench was abysmal, with just 11 points to San Antonio’s 31 points. With 2:30 left in the quarter, the Lakers were down by 12. The lack of offense continued to haunt LA.
Going into the fourth quarter, Los Angeles had only shed one point off that Spurs lead.
LaRavia opened the final frame with a much-needed 3-pointer for the Lakers. Victor Wembanyama was having an off night with just 11 points, but it didn’t matter as San Antonio was still in control of the game.
LA had 8:15 left to mount a comeback, but without enough firepower, it looked bleak. Johnson’s big night carried on for the Spurs as he was up to 25 points off the bench.
With 51 seconds left, Los Angeles was down double figures yet again and head coach JJ Redick emptied the bench.
Key Player Stats:
Dončić scored 38 points along with 10 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. LaRavia ended with 16 points and seven rebounds. Deandre Ayton pitched in with nine points and six rebounds. Hayes notched 10 points with seven rebounds.
The Lakers’ next matchup will be against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday at 7:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
