The Los Angeles Lakers were able to hang on and beat the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night despite being outscored 45-30 in the fourth quarter.
That marked the 18th consecutive loss to the Spurs and now it is up to the Lakers to make it 19 as the two teams square off again in San Antonio on Friday night.
The Lakers again have an extensive injury report for this one as LeBron James (left calf contusion), Anthony Davis (left adductor/hip spasm), Cam Reddish (right knee soreness), D’Angelo Russell (migraine) and Taurean Prince (left knee soreness) were all listed as questionable while Jarred Vanderbilt (low back spasm) was listed as probable.
James sat out the game on Wednesday but appears ready to go for this one as he, Prince and Vanderbilt are all playing. Unfortunately though, L.A. is without three starters with Davis, Russell and Reddish being ruled out.
On Wednesday, all eyes were on the matchup of Davis and rookie Victor Wembanyama. Both big men put on a show in their first matchup with Davis scoring 37 points to go along with 10 rebounds, one assist and four steals while Wembanyama had 30 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, three steals and six blocks.
Each got the better of the other with some monster dunks and exchanged praise for each other after the game. While Wembanyama said he was looking forward to future matchups with Davis, that will have to wait a little longer with Davis sitting out on Friday.
The Lakers’ backup big man duo of Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes are tasked with trying to slow down Wembanyama, while guys like Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Max Christie need to step in the absence of Russell and Reddish.
Regardless, having James back in the lineup should be a huge boost for L.A. Despite missing the first game, LeBron has been on a tear in recent weeks, averaging 26.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists while shooting 53.9 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range in his last 13 games.
The Lakers as a team have bounced back from their 3-5 start to the year by winning 13 of their last 18 games, so the hope is that they will be able to keep that rolling against a team that hasn’t won since the beginning of November.
Los Angeles Lakers (15-10) vs. San Antonio Spurs (3-20)
5:00 p.m. PT, Dec. 13, 2023
Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas
TV: Spectrum SportsNet, NBA TV
Radio: 710 AM ESPN LA
Projected Lakers starting lineup:
PG: Austin Reaves
SG: Max Christie
SF: Taurean Prince
PF: LeBron James
C: Jaxson Hayes
Key Reserves: Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, Christian Wood
Projected Spurs starting lineup:
PG: Malaki Branham
SG: Devin Vassell
SF: Jeremy Sochan
PF: Keldon Johnson
C: Victor Wembanyama
Key Reserves: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Cedi Osman, Doug McDermott
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