The Los Angeles Lakers take on the San Antonio Spurs tonight as they look to hand the Spurs their first road loss of the season. Check out our live recap:
1st Quarter
The Lakers lineup looked a bit different today as Jose Calderon filled in for D’Angelo Russell, who was ruled out with a sore knee. Calderon was joined by the rest of the usual starters: Nick Young, Luol Deng, Julius Randle, and Timofey Mozgov. The Spurs rolled out Tony Parker, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Pau Gasol.
After missing their the first few shot attempts, the Spurs jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead as Leonard, Gasol, and Green were able to connect on nice looking jumpers that prompted Lakers coach Luke Walton to call an early timeout. Finally, the Lakers got on the scoreboard as Randle was able to hit a mid-range jumper that was accompanied by a Young four-point play. Deng got in on the action early hitting a jumper to bring the Lakers within one point.
Green connected on his second three-pointer of the game as Leonard was able to find him in transition, giving the Spurs a six-point lead midway through the quarter. Patty Mills and Manu Ginobli entered the game and immediately connected on two straight jumpers that was followed by a Lakers score.
In need of some scoring, Lou Williams entered the game for the Lakers and connected on his first two shot attempts to hopefully start some fluidity on the offensive end. After a timeout, Aldridge hit a corner three-pointer to extend San Antonio’s lead to 10 points.
The Lakers never found their rhythm on either end of the floor that led them to a 26-16 deficit after the first quarter ended.
2nd Quarter
After trading baskets to begin the quarter, David Lee knocked down two free throws to give the Spurs their largest lead of the game, 13 points. On the next two ensuing Laker possessions, Williams made a great pass to Tarik Black for an easy slam-dunk followed by a lay-up to force a Spurs timeout.
The Lakers began to play good defense that led to another basket by Williams and a lay-up by Larry Nance Jr. The Spurs then inserted their starting lineup and Green and Gasol connected on consecutive jumpers to stop the Lakers momentum. After a missed lay-up by Nance Jr., and an offensive goaltending call on the Spurs, a Deng three-pointer and Randle lay-up brought the Lakers back within six points midway through the quarter.
A nice hesitation dribble by Young to get past Green led to a savvy layup over the taller Davis Bertans of the Spurs. Deng continued his strong night by grabbing an offensive rebound and laying it back in to cut the lead to 47-43.
The Lakers got momentum on their side and ended the quarter on a 9-2 run tying the game at 52 entering halftime.
3rd Quarter
Los Angeles began the quarter quickly as Randle made a nice spin move to score a floater over Green that was followed by another Young three-pointer to give the Lakers a five-point lead. Not to be outdone, the Spurs responded with jumpers by Leonard, Aldridge, and Ginobli to spark a 7-0 run to regain the lead.
After a couple quick baskets by the Spurs, Calderon connected on a three-pointer and floater to score his first points of the game. After a timeout, San Antonio heated up and extended their lead to 12 points to force a Lakers timeout.
The Spurs continued to take control of the quarter as they played good defense and moved the ball on the offensive end. Before the quarter ended, Los Angeles was able to make a couple of baskets but it still wasn’t enough as the Lakers trailed heading into the fourth, 91-76.
4th Quarter
Gasol got the quarter started for the Spurs by slamming home a pass from Green. Williams followed with a three-pointer along with a lay-in by Clarkson that prompted a Spurs timeout. Ingram scored his first basket, a straightaway jumper, to bring the Lakers within 10 points. As was the case for the night, a Spurs three-pointer stopped an 8-0 Lakers run.
A steal by Los Angeles led to a Clarkson transition layup, which cut the deficit to five with a little over six minutes left to play. Just when it seemed that things were breaking the Lakers way, the Spurs scored on consecutive baskets by Aldridge to force another Lakers timeout.
Leonard was able to score five straight points to extend the lead back to nine for San Antonio with less than three minutes to play. Three-pointers by Young and Clarkson got the Lakers within five points but it still wasn’t enough as the Lakers were unable to leave with a victory, losing 116-107.
