Lakers News: LeBron-Less Lakers Spurn Spurs, Win Third Straight, 123-92
Well that was fun!
Last night, your Los Angeles Lakers laid the smackdown on the visiting San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena, dominating the Spurs in all facets with a complete team effort to nab their third straight win, a 123-92 masterpiece. Of course, game MVP honors once again go to All-Star L.A. big man Anthony Davis, who turned in yet another spectacular performance. L.A. is now a surprising 3-1 this season when LeBron James sits.
Davis scored 30 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and snatched three steals. In a hair under 28 minutes! Last night marked his third straight 30+ point, 15+ rebound outing (all wins).
With the victory, the Lakers moved to a 5-10 record on the year, while the Spurs fell to a 6-12 record with the loss... which actually puts them behind the Lakers, who now ascend to 13th place in the Western Conference.
This was the Lakers' most complete and dominant victory of the 2022-23 season so far, and the team did it without LeBron James, who just may not have to be L.A.'s best player anymore.
Davis got it done on both sides of the floor virtually from the jump. He had 18 points, five rebounds, two steals and a block over rookie lottery pick Jeremy Sochan in the game's first quarter alone.
He had almost as many points individually as the Spurs managed to compile in the first frame. L.A. accordingly led, 34-20, at the end of the initial period.
Swingman Austin Reaves, who again started in the absence of James (Lonnie Walker IV, usually the shooting guard, moved up a spot to small forward, while Troy Brown Jr., usually the small forward, moved up to LBJ's typical power forward spot) had an excellent first half, scoring 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Backup center Thomas Bryant, in just his second game back for L.A., continued to look way, way better than Damian Jones ever has with L.A. this season, scoring 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the floor (plus a less-than-perfect 2-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe) and pulling down four rebounds by the end of the second quarter. LeBron James approved.
The Lakers took a commanding 66-48 lead at the half. Davis alone closed out the half with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 15:32.
Los Angeles kept its foot on the gas early in the third quarter, getting off to a red-hot 8-0 start to stretch its lead to 74-48. The Lakers enjoyed a more balanced attack in the third quarter. Russell Westbrook got his 10th assist of the night with this alley-oop to fellow reserve Thomas Bryant:
By the end of the frame, L.A. led 95-67, and the game felt all but over.
Davis and Reaves played for just 2:13 in the fourth quarter (34-year-old Westbrook didn't play at all), just long enough for Reaves to dish the rock to Davis for a two-handed slam, which represented his 29th and 30th points of the night. After hitting this milestone, head coach Darvin Ham brought both players out, as the blowout was well underway:
So beyond Davis, six Lakers scored in double figures. Reaves went 7-for-11 from the floor (3-of-4 from deep) to score a season-high 21 points. He has scored in double figures for four straight games. Westbrook had a 10-point, 10-assist double-double in 21:33 off the bench. Walker, playing against the team that drafted him in 2018 out of the University of Miami, notched 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Bryant scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 22:59. Reserve guards Kendrick Nunn and Dennis Schröder both scored 13 points. Starting point guard Patrick Beverley again had a horrible scoring night (three total points on 1-of-5 shooting), but somehow registered a +27 plus-minus.
But the Lakers' world revolved around Anthony Davis yet again tonight. This writer is surprised at the immediate positive impact Bryant and Schroder have made in the team's rotations. A real pecking order seems to be forming at last. The biggest change lately has been getting the ball to Anthony Davis and letting him cook in the paint. With his jump shot abandoning him, he has taken to bullying defenders with his devastating post play. If he can actually keep this up, this may not be a totally lost season, after all.
Los Angeles as a team shot 52.9% from the field in the win, and enjoyed a 54-44 rebounding edge. The Lakers also far outpaced the Spurs in trips to and makes at the free-throw line (L.A. went 21-of-24, San Antonio shot just 3-of-10). Finally, the Lakers and Spurs took the exact same amount of three-point attempts, 34, only Los Angeles made 12 of its tries (35.3%), while San Antonio nailed just seven (20.6%).
L.A. will next play the 10-6 Phoenix Suns tomorrow night, before facing off against the Spurs two more times to close out the week.
