Lakers News: Anthony Davis, LeBron James Power L.A. To Another Win Over Spurs, 105-94

Your Los Angeles Lakers find themselves back in the winners' circle tonight, having vanquished the San Antonio Spurs 105-94 behind big games from stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James. The victory, L.A.'s first on the road all year, moves the club to a still-bad 6-11 record, which puts them 1.5 games ahead of the now 6-14 Spurs in the Western Conference standings.

San Antonio has been subtly tanking lately, looking to rest key players with tactical injuries. Today, three-point marksmen Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson were sidelined.

But a win is a win, and Los Angeles has something to build on heading into tomorrow, when the two teams will again square off at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

LeBron James kicked off the first quarter with a 15-foot mid-range take:

King starts us off

(📺: @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/3atowIAu7P
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 26, 2022

Russell Westbrook's two-way game with Anthony Davis remained strong, as evinced here:

Westbrook throws it up for AD pic.twitter.com/SHTZAMA5JU
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 26, 2022

L.A. got into its offense quickly, and the Spurs looked relatively listless in comparison. The Lakers led 33-21 in a high-scoring first quarter.

A balanced offensive attack helped the Lakers build out their double-digit lead to 59-41 at the half.

Although Davis and James began taking over for L.A. in the third quarter, the team also let San Antonio's young bucks right back into the game. Los Angeles went ice cold late in the frame, and couldn't land a shot in the final 3:44 of the period. The Spurs, led by top scorers Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, outscored Los Angeles 34-20 in that frame, shrinking the lead to just four, 79-75, heading into the evening's fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Davis and James got to work, propelling L.A. to a 13-3 run to start off the frame.

A well-rested James seemed comfortable scoring inside for some classic-looking fast-break scoring:

Transition buckets by bron ✔️ pic.twitter.com/UN8LeP5rSp
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 26, 2022

Davis also remained a monster in the paint late:

AD crashing the boards pic.twitter.com/DPuzoFVFBj
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 26, 2022

Los Angeles managed to keep San Antonio at bay the rest of the way. L.A. enjoyed a massive shooting edge over the Spurs. The Lakers went 40-of-83 from the field (48.2%), far better than San Antonio's 38-of-100 night, although it's a bit disconcerting that the Spurs got so many more attempts from the floor.

LeBron James scored 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the floor (1-of-4 from deep) and 4-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe, eight rebounds, five assists (against, uh, nine turnovers), and three steals, while posting a +16 plus-minus.

Anthony Davis poured in 25 points on a hyper-efficient 10-of-13 shooting from the floor, plus 5-of-7 from the free-throw line, grabbed 15 rebounds, dished out four dimes, blocked three shots, and gabbed a steal.

Lonnie Walker IV scored 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting (including 4-of-9 shooting from long range). Starting small forward Troy Brown Jr. was L.A.'s only other player scoring in double figures. He had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, four rebounds, and one steal.

To the surprise of this writer at least, Dennis Schröder got the starting point guard gig above Austin Reaves, with traditional starter Patrick Beverley serving the first contest of his three-game suspension. He scored nine points on 3-of-7 shooting, and chipped in five assists. Sixth man Russell Westbrook looked more like starter-era Russell Westbrook, scoring three points on 1-of-7 shooting from the floor. His only bucket was a running dunk in the first quarter. He also shot 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.