The past week has been rough for the Los Angeles Lakers as they suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Orlando Magic followed by blowout losses to the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Lakers continued their road trip against a feisty San Antonio Spurs squad. Los Angeles had been talking about needing to make adjustments to get themselves out of their rut and they did just that when they beat San Antonio 119-101 to snap their losing streak.
In what ended up being a total group effort, it was LeBron James who led the charge for the Lakers as he started the game playmaking before looking to score more in the second half. James hasn’t been very aggressive offensively since taking over more point guard duties, and that trend continued as he was content moving the basketball and finding his teammates.
However, James sensed there was a moment for him to put the game away and he looked to score more in the fourth quarter. The King got loose for some easy baskets near the rim and his mini spurt helped put San Antonio away. Although the numbers might not pop off the screen immediately, James managed to record another triple-double of 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in just 33 minutes of action.
Because the rest of the team was contributing offensively, Davis didn’t have to assert himself too much on that end but he was still a problem for the Spurs in the middle of the paint. Los Angeles made it a point to get Davis going in the first quarter and he was active looking for shots right at the rim.
Davis recorded a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds, and narrowly missed out on his own triple-double as he recorded seven assists.
Head coach JJ Redick replaced Cam Reddish with Dalton Knecht in the starting lineup and the rookie delivered as he led the Lakers in scoring with 20 points. Knecht looked much more comfortable as a starter and caught a rhythm early shooting the basketball.
Lastly, D’Angelo Russell put together another strong performance off the bench as he scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting including 3-of-6 from downtown.
What’s next for Lakers
The Lakers finally heads back home where they’ll host the Oklahoma City Thunder in an important Emirates NBA Cup game on Friday. Afterwards, they head back on the road to take on the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
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Los Angeles Lakers(96) - Minnesota Timberwolves(103)
