The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the hottest teams in the league and entered their matchup against the San Antonio Spurs with a four-game winning streak.
Like the Lakers, the Spurs have also gotten off to a hot start to the 2025-26 season and are seeing their own superstar in Victor Wembanyama blossom into a legitimate MVP candidate. The similarities between the two teams don’t stop there as they came into their first matchup of the regular season shorthanded, with Los Angeles missing LeBron James and Austin Reaves while San Antonio was without Dylan Harper and Luke Kornet.
It was a competitive game from the jump as both teams fought tooth and nail on both ends of the floor. Wembanyama was a terror defensively as he shut down the paint by himself, but the Lakers were able to neutralize him by getting him into foul trouble.
The game came down to the final seconds and in a wild finish L.A. managed to overcome San Antonio in a 118-116 thriller to rack up its fifth consecutive win and move to second in the Western Conference.
Luka Doncic missed the Lakers’ previous game against the Portland Trail Blazers, but returned to the lineup and picked up where he left off. Doncic struggled to shoot the basketball early, but eventually found his rhythm as the game went on.
Doncic wasn’t as efficient as he would have liked at the free throw line, but still managed to knock down 13 of his 17 attempts. Outside of scoring, Doncic was also a huge factor defensively as he was constantly in passing lanes to disrupt the Spurs’ offense.
Overall, Doncic had an impressive two-way performance recording 35 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds, five steals and two blocks.
Deandre Ayton had to deal being guarded by Wembanyama for large stretches of the game, but the Lakers big man still found ways to be a factor when he wasn’t scoring. Ayton was great at defending the rim, particularly in the second half where his shot blocking ignited the team.
Fortunately, Ayton was able to take advantage of his scoring opportunities when Wembanyama was off the floor. Ayton rolled hard to the rim and fought for offensive boards and often times got rewarded for his efforts.
Ayton found himself with easy looks in the paint and he wound up with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will head back on the road for a five-game trip starting with the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and then the Charlotte Hornets on Monday.
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