The LA Lakers and San Antonio Spurs locked horns on Wednesday night. It was their third meeting of the season and a pivotal one as they were tied 1-1 in their season series. With both teams in the top three of the West standings, there’s a decent chance they could be in a tiebreaker at the end of the regular season.
The Lakers and Spurs were playing on the second night of a back-to-back. Despite that, they came out swinging in the early minutes.
The Spurs got a head start with a seven-point lead. However, the Lakers chipped away and tied the game 20-20. It was a one-possession game the rest of the way in the first quarter, with San Antonio ultimately coming out on top with a 26-23 lead.
The second quarter was similar to the first. The Spurs had a five-point lead at the end this time, but it was pretty even for most of the frame. The Lakers were ahead in 50-50 chances, but fell short in execution, shooting only 36.4% from the field compared to the Spurs’ 42.1%. San Antonio, meanwhile, got its advantage through the free-throw line, with eight more attempts and seven more points from LA from the charity stripe.
The Spurs shot only 2 of 14 from deep, while the Lakers shot 4 of 20 as fatigue started to catch up with both teams.
The Lakers kept it close in the third through the first four minutes, but couldn’t maintain the gap. The lack of offense outside Luka Doncic started to cripple LA steadily, giving the Spurs some breathing room as they extended their lead by 11 entering the final quarter.
The Spurs were able to maintain a double-digit lead for most of the fourth quarter, despite the Lakers making short runs. LA survived the non-Doncic minutes to stay afloat and give the Slovenian a fighting chance down the stretch.
However, the outcome didn’t change, even with him and the floor, scoring at will. The Lakers desperately needed more contributions from others, which they didn’t get until the very end. The Spurs took a game-high 14-point lead with four minutes left, and the Lakers couldn’t do much from that point on.
The Lakers lost the game 107-91, falling to 7-9 against teams .500 or above. They also had their three-game winning streak snapped, while the Spurs avoided a third straight loss.
Here are the Lakers vs. Spurs player stats:
LA Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs Match Player Stats (Jan. 7)
LA Lakers player stats:
| Player | FGM | 3PM | FTM | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
| Jarred Vanderbilt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Jake LaRavia | 6 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| Deandre Ayton | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Marcus Smart | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Luka Dončić | 13 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 38 |
| Dalton Knecht | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Gabe Vincent | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Jaxson Hayes | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Maxi Kleber | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nick Smith Jr. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Bronny James | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Drew Timme | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Mañon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
San Antonio Spurs player stats
| Player | FGM | 3PM | FTM | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
| Julian Champagnie | 3 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Harrison Barnes | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Luke Kornet | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| De’Aaron Fox | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Stephon Castle | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Dylan Harper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Keldon Johnson | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Victor Wembanyama | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| Jeremy Sochan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Carter Bryant | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bismack Biyombo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David Jones Garcia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lindy Waters III | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
*Stats will be updated after every half
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