Spurs Comeback Bid Falls Short vs. Lakers & LeBron James as Skid Continues
The San Antonio Spurs entered Friday's matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers at AT&T Center with a six-game losing, the longest current skid in the league.
The Spurs were still licking their wounds after a 123-92 beat-down at the hands of the Lakers just five days prior. Things seemed to be trending in a similar direction early during Friday's game.
But despite nearly coming back from a 20-point lead after a furious run in the third quarter, the Spurs were unable to fight off sloppy shooting and an early deficit before falling 105-94 to LA Friday.
The Spurs were led by Tre Jones (19 points, five assists) while Devin Vassell (18 points, six rebounds), Keldon Johnson (15 points, nine rebounds) and Jeremy Sochan (13 points, nine rebounds, five assists).
Lakers star LeBron James made his return from injury and posted his usual multi-faceted stat line, as he totaled 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Anthony Davis, who had four straight games of at least 30 points entering Friday, led all scorers with 25 points while adding 15 rebounds and three blocks.
San Antonio gave former Spur Lonnie Walker IV and video tribute prior to tip-off, but he hardly showed any love to his former team on the court in the first quarter. Walker came out firing, posting 10 points in the opening period as the Lakers led 33-21. He nailed two 3s and was flying to the rim in ways that Spurs fans grew accustomed to during his time in the Alamo City.
San Antonio got the deficit to single digits at 46-37 with four minutes left in the second quarter, but a 9-0 run by LA included five more points from Walker to help the Lakers build a 59-39 lead right before half. Sochan added a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to cut the margin below 20, but this hardly softened the blow of what was a dominant first half from the Lakers.
Luckily for the Spurs, Johnson finally started to get in groove. He had 10 points in about three minutes of game time that helped spark San Antonio to a 12-2 run to end the third quarter. The Spurs held the Lakers scoreless for the final 3:45 of the quarter.
But the Lakers had answers headed into the fourth, as LA got a few easy transition buckets to spark an 11-0 to start the final quarter. This was essentially all the Lakers needed to pull away despite the Spurs pulling within four in the second half.
San Antonio never got the game back within single digits and ran out of time to stage another run at a comeback. Luckily, the Spurs will get another chance to snag a win over the Lakers on Saturday night at the AT&T Center.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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