LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs: 3 Keys to Victory
SAN ANTONIO — By this point in the season, the San Antonio Spurs hoped they'd be further than 17 games into a hole.
Nobody was expecting a revival the type that Tim Duncan or David Robinson brought in their first seasons — though the comparison was firmly planted in the heads of just about every Spurs fan with a social media graphic. For starters, Wembanyama didn't have a teammate like Robinson in his rookie season. That was the luxury Duncan got.
And Robinson? Different era. Different roster.
This year's Spurs revolve around Wembanyama in a way that hardly any other team relies on their star(s). San Antonio has the youngest roster in the league, and as a result, it's losing games. Monday night was proof of that.
The Spurs might have dropped yet another game to fall to 3-19 on their campaign, but they still have three quarters of the season to go. And lucky for them, they get to kick it off strong. LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are coming to town for a two-game series spanning Wednesday and Friday, leaving Wembanyama with the toughest opponent of his rookie season and another big challenge.
San Antonio is at home however, so it'll certainly have a crowd backing it — and a full one, at that — to raise the pressure even more. And if it wants to come out with a win (or two), it'll have to play some of the best basketball it has all season.
Here are three keys to winning against the defending In-Season Tournament champs:
Dec 8, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) walks over in the second half against the Chicago Bulls at the Frost Bank Center.
© Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
1) Finding Production From Role Players
The Spurs' roster might be young, but it's also full of talent.
Between Devin Vassell, Malaki Branham, Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, Julian Champagnie, Tre Jones and others, San Antonio has found most of its production from players under 25 years old. Collins misses the mark by one year, leaving Cedi Osman and Doug McDermott as outliers. But over 25 or not, San Antonio is going to need a myriad of production to overpower the Lakers.
And not just from Wembanyama.
Branham has been getting starting reps as of late, in midst of Gregg Popovich's rotation experiments. He's tried Sochan at point, Wembanyama at both big spots and even Collins on the bench to find any kind of rhythm, and while it's generated some positive trends — an extremely efficient Collins-Jones-led bench unit — wins have still been hard to come by.
I've said it before, but playing competitively against teams is only half of the equation. The Spurs have that down — most of the time, anyway — but what they're missing is a strong finish. Against the Lakers, finishing strong and starting hot will both be of equal importance, and that means relying on players like Branham, McDermott, Jones and Champagnie to add production onto a starting group that should also be scoring.
San Antonio can't just rely on Wembanyama to carry them against a team as well-put-together as the Lakers. It knows that, but it'll have to show it.
2) Wembanyama Being Wembanyama
While the Spurs will have to find production from all facets of their roster, they also will need Wembanyama to perform.
Since his early struggles, the 7-4 rookie has begun to find his rhythm. He's registered double-digit rebounds in nine of his last 11 contests as well as consistently knocked down shots from behind the arc. Finding success against a strong defense that the Lakers bring to the court will make things more difficult, yes, but not impossible.
Wembanyama has faced off against some of the NBA's top big men already. He's faced both Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony-Towns, Zion Williamson, Nikola Jokic and even Dallas Mavericks breakout center Derek Lively II. Those contests, while they haven't yielded wins, have led to the rookie receiving praise.
That's likely to be the case Wednesday and Friday, especially if Wembanyama can hold his own against Anthony Davis. The Lakers' second star has affected games on both ends of the floor, which has put him in solid position to compete for a Defensive Player of the Year nod. Wembanyama isn't close to that level of impact. Not yet.
That being said, if he can do his thing and allow his teammates to add on to his production instead of carry it, he'll make a statement and could be the X-factor in whether or not the Spurs play the Lakers competitively or not.
3) Slowing Down Anthony Davis
One of the NBA’s biggest “What Ifs?” isn’t a past player, pairing or even team. It’s a current player.
Lakers big man Anthony Davis took the league by storm when he forced his way out of New Orleans. He made his way to the City of Angels and joined LeBron James on a team that ended up winning the 2020 NBA Championship.
But after that season, health took over, and not in a good way. Davis became as notorious for wearing street clothes as he was for having a unibrow. He missed ample time and the Lakers sunk to a jettisoned Play-In team.
That didn’t last too long, however, as Los Angeles is undoubtedly back in the mix for a championship. And, like in 2020, that started with Davis.
Standing 6-10 and capable of posting a 40-point, 20-rebound game, Davis is exactly the big man any team in the league wants … when he’s healthy.
So far this season, that’s been the case. He’s attacked the boards as aggressively as he defends them. He’s set to pose arguably the biggest threat to Victor Wembanyama as anyone all season, but if the Spurs can keep him at bay, they’ll give themselves a much better shot at pulling out a win.
When Davis doesn’t play well, Los Angeles struggles. That was evident in their loss to the 76ers, as well as the Oklahoma City Thunder. If he’s unable to find his rhythm, San Antonio could very well join that list.
That’s why when the Spurs take the court, slowing down “The Brow” should be at the top of their priority list.
