On the heels of three straight losses, the Spurs looked to right the ship against the Lakers as they faced off on Monday night, resulting in a 126-102 victory in La La Land.
The game didn’t get off to a good start for the black and silver. LA jumped out to an early 7-0 lead due to some sloppy defense from the Spurs, forcing Mitch Johnson to do his best Pop impression by calling a timeout just two minutes in. That seemed to wake up the Spurs, as they responded by hitting threes and taking better care of the ball. Still, the Lakers were able to generate good looks of their own, leading to their role players making triples of their own.
)
Of course, fans didn’t tune in to watch the likes of Rui Hachimura or Austin Reaves. Everyone was anticipating the matchup between the Alien and the King, and they delivered. After Wemby made a deep three, LeBron tried to answer with one of his own, but he failed to convert. Undeterred, he continued to attack the French phenom, showing off his old man strength. Answering the bell, Wemby made another three to keep the Spurs in the game. As soon as he left the game, though, LA went on a small run, resulting in them building a double-digit lead.
Fortunately for San Antonio, they quickly made up ground through a flurry of dunks. Wemby first made a two-handed jam running straight down the middle in transition. Then, Devin Vassell attacked Anthony Davis without any hesitation and threw down a vicious slam on arguably the second-best defensive player in the league. Finally, after another LA turnover, Wemby made his second dunk in as many minutes with no one in the vicinity of Area 51. And just like that, the Spurs had tied the game.
San Antonio maintained their momentum going into the fourth. With Wemby and the young guys on the bench, it was now the vets’ turn to close out the game. CP and Harrison Barnes controlled the offense and slowed down the game, ensuring that no Lakers comeback was in place.
In the end, the Spurs rode their late momentum to a 126-102 victory over LA. The score is more lopsided than how the game played out, but it was still a very encouraging result that snapped a mini-skid for San Antonio.
Game notes
- Ho hum, Wemby finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. It was a nice bounceback given that he had just 10 points last Wednesday against Milwaukee. More importantly, he looked more rejuvenated after almost a week between games, as he seemed lethargic in that match against the Bucks. With that said, I would’ve liked him to attack the paint more since AD was in foul trouble for most of the night, and yet Wemby did most of his damage on the perimeter. Had he decided to play more down low, he might’ve gotten easier points with Davis not wanting to foul out.
- I continue to be impressed by how unfazed Stephon Castle is. On the contrary, he seems to excel in games against the biggest stars. On Monday night, Castle dropped 23 points on 10-16 shooting and seemed to make it his mission to attack LeBron and AD. He was successful on multiple occasions, and in typical Steph fashion, there wasn’t even a hint of a smile on his face.
- Vassell continued his strong play, finishing with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists on 9-18 from the field and 5-9 from three. His shooting has turned a corner after a slow start, but it’s his explosiveness that’s the most encouraging. We saw him make a number of explosive dunks last week, but none were more impressive than the one on Monday against AD. It’s fair to say that he’s finally over his knee injury and is looking like, well, Devin Vassell again.
Play of the game
Are these guys gearing up for the All-Star game?
Next game: vs Memphis on Wednesday
The Spurs will look to make it two in a row against a resilient Memphis team that’s currently third in the Western Conference.
