The Los Angeles Lakers travel to San Antonio tonight to battle the Spurs. In their first meeting on Nov. 18, the Lakers lost 116-107. Check out our game recap:
1st Quarter
The Lakers had their usual starting lineup to begin the game while the Spurs started with Tony Parker, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Pau Gasol.
San Antonio took an early 8-2 lead before Luol Deng hit a corner three-pointer to stop the Spurs early momentum. A couple of baskets from the Spurs put them back up seven, but the Lakers responded with a long jumper from Randle and a midrange shot from Russell to cut the lead to three.
Both teams traded baskets until the Spurs called a timeout as Greg Popovic was unhappy about his team’s defensively. Coming out of the timeout the Spurs went on a scoring run to take a 14-point lead with four minutes to play in the half.
Randle stopped the Spurs scoring run by connecting on a jumper over Gasol for a much needed basket for the Lakers. A pair of free throws from Leonard was countered by a three-pointer by Brandon Ingram, who has been shooting the ball really well as of late, on the ensuing Lakers possession.
With the quarter ending, Lou Williams hit a pair of free throws after he was fouled by Manu Ginobli on a shot attempt. The Lakers trail at the end of the first quarter, 36-24.
2nd Quarter
Both teams started out sloppy to begin the quarter as shots clanked off the rim and a couple of turnovers had players sprinting up and down the court. Jonathon Simmons delivered a nice bounce pass for an easy dunk to Dewayne Dedmon to force Luke Walton to call a timeout.
Consecutive Lakers baskets by Jordan Clarkson and Tarik Black cut the Lakers deficit to nine, but Aldridge responded with a patented midrange jumper for his second basket of the night. A defensively steal by Randle lead to a slam dunk on the other end to bring the Lakers within four points.
A bad offensive possession by the Lakers with Clarkson dribbling too much lead to a transition Leonard layup for his 16th point of the night and a Lakers timeout. Out of the timeout, Lou Williams was able to steal the ball away from San Antonio for a score right under the basket.
In typical Spurs fashion, good ball movement lead a Danny Green three-pointer from the corner to put San Antonio back up nine midway through the quarter. Nick Young, who has struggled as of late, scored his first basket when Thomas Robinson set a solid screen and created space for an open jumper.
After a pair of free throws by Aldridge, Russell found Randle for a slam dunk to cut the lead to 16 points with fewer than one minute to play. The Lakers trail at the end of the second quarter, 72-54.
San Antonio shot lights out, 59 percent, in the first half to take complete control of the game.
3rd Quarter
Aldridge started the quarter by hitting a patented jumper but Young responded for the Lakers with a three-pointer. Another Leonard basket gave the Spurs their largest lead of the game, 22 points, to force a Lakers timeout.
During the timeout Luke Walton benched the states and inserted the bench in hopes of providing some sort of spark. That didn’t help as the Spurs ballooned their lead to 28 points with fewer than four minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Lakers trail 106-75 at the end of the third quarter.
4th Quarter
Ivica Zubac, who came into the game late in the third quarter, got his first basket off a nice bounce pass from Marcelo Huertas, but Kyle Anderson drilled another three-pointer for the Spurs at the other end.
A nice sequence by Zubac saw him break up a potential alley-oop that rewarded him a slam dunk on the ensuing possession. Good ball movement by the Spurs lead to another open three-pointer Dejounte Murray for San Antonio.
The Lakers were simply outplayed for the entirety of the game. Every starter, except Randle, was held to single-digit points and the bench was outscored by their counterparts. Ex-Laker, Pau Gasol, had a huge game for the Spurs. HE finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. kWh Leonard finished with a game-high 31 points to further make his case to being one of the league’s top player.
The Lakers lose, 134-94, to the Spurs.
