Following a sudden-death, double-overtime comeback win against the Miami Heat, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Summer League team looked to close out the California Classic with back-to-back wins, taking on the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center.
They did exactly that as a strong second half resulted in an 88-84 win over the Spurs to head to Las Vegas with a 2-1 record on the summer.
Heading into this matchup, Los Angeles rolled out a new starting five with William Hickey, Cameron Carr, Chris Mañon, AK Okereke and Robbie Avila, who made his Summer League debut. Unfortunately, second-year forward Adou Thiero was a late scratch due to a right wrist injury and the severity of it is unknown.
L.A.’s lack of ball handlers and playmakers continued to be an issue as early they started the first quarter with five turnovers and only one made field goal, courtesy of Carr. San Antonio took advantage of the Lakers’ sloppy play to take an early 11-4 lead.
Things did not get prettier for the Lakers as they ultimately finished the first quarter with eight turnovers, shooting 3-for-12 from the field and 1-for-6 from 3-point range. But, they somehow found themselves down only six at 21-15 with Arthur Kaluma leading the way with four points.
Thankfully, Los Angeles’ offense picked up in the second with Luke Goode drilling a 3-pointer, William Kyle III getting a dunk and Carr earning himself an and-one, which increased his point total to five. Despite efforts to cut into the Spurs’ lead, a 14-6 run fueled by former South Bay Lakers guard RJ Davis’ 13 points gave San Antonio a 46-38 advantage heading into halftime.
With Carr shut down to begin the second half, Okereke picked up a quick five points to trim the deficit to four points at 49-45. A lineup that featured Kaluma, Kyle III, Goode and Mañon then altered the trajectory of this game with the Lakers taking their first lead and ultimately taking a 65-62 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
L.A.’s defensive intensity went up a considerable notch, which led to easy offense with transition points. Kaluma and Mañon took the game over with their two-way play to propel the Lakers to the win despite starting poorly.
The defensive minded guard in Mañon was the leading scorer with 24 points, eight rebounds, two steals and three blocks on 7-for-10 from the field. Kaluma also chipped in 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field. For the Spurs, Ja’Kobi Gillespie led with 19 points followed by Davis’ 18, Emanuel Miller contributing 14 and Tarris Reed Jr. putting up 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Lakers Las Vegas Summer League schedule & TV info
Friday, July 10: Thunder at 7 p.m. PT on Amazon Prime
Saturday, July 11: Mavericks at 7 p.m. PT on ESPN
Tuesday, July 14: Clippers at 7 p.m. on Amazon Prime
Thursday, July 16: Bulls at 3 p.m. on Amazon Prime
Fifth game: TBD
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