Despite the absence of LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers still regained the feeling of victory thanks to the shining performance of Anthony Davis, although the way the purple-yellow team won the match made fans’ hearts skip a beat.
Playing the second match in two days (just lost to the Dallas Mavericks 125-127 yesterday on December 13), the Lakers soon received bad news when LeBron James had to sit out the trip to San Antonio due to calf pain.
The responsibility immediately fell on the shoulders of Anthony Davis and the bigman born in 1993 did not disappoint his teammates.
He pocketed 37 points along with 10 rebounds and 4 steals in 38 minutes, marking his third consecutive game scoring over 35 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122-119 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
Rui Hachimura replaced LeBron in the starting lineup and had 13 points and 7 rebounds (6-10 FG). Taurean Prince scored 17 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
D’Angelo Russell had 12 points and 10 assists but had 3 turnovers, including a disastrous mistake that almost cost the Lakers defeat in the final seconds.
Although the final score was quite close with a difference of only 3 points, the Los Angeles Lakers at one point led San Antonio by 20 points in the fourth quarter. However, negligence in defense caused the Lakers to lose their lead.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs players scored 45 points into the Lakers’ basket in the last 12 minutes. Wembanyama alone scored 14 points, including 2 consecutive 3-pointers in a difficult position to shorten the score to 116-117.
Fortunately for the yellow and purple team, Anthony Davis and Taurean Prince were sure-handed at the free throw line, successfully completing 5 out of 6 FTs in 20 seconds to preserve the 122-119 victory.
“It can be said that we were lucky to win this match,” said Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.
“There are many things the team needs to do and tighten up. We also need to play more responsibly and more disciplined, we cannot just rely on the talent of our squad and underestimate our opponents.”
The San Antonio Spurs’ short comeback caused this team to extend their losing streak to 18 consecutive defeats, erasing Wembanyama’s effort to score 30 points, 13 rebounds and 6 blocks. Young defender Keldon Johnson contributed 28 points (10-14 FG) and 8 assists.
Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs will meet again next Saturday morning Vietnam time, still at the Frost Bank Center home of Wembanyama and his teammates.
This will be the last away game in a series of 3 consecutive away games for the Lakers before they return home to host the New York Knicks early next week.
