SAN ANTONIO — The feeling that it was going to be an off night for the Lakers appeared well before tipoff – and even before it was revealed that they’d be without three starters, including Anthony Davis.

The Lakers’ last bus from their hotel to the Frost Bank Center on Friday night, which Coach Darvin Ham was on, had weather and traffic-related delays getting to the arena – with Ham and a few players (ones who didn’t play) not arriving until a little under an hour before tipoff.

Then, it was revealed Davis (ankle), along with Cam Reddish (right knee soreness) and D’Angelo Russell (non-COVID illness), wouldn’t be available, leaving the Lakers with eight players signed to standard NBA contracts to fill out the rotation.

So it wasn’t surprising when the Lakers – playing their third game in four nights – came out flat and got off to a slow start they never quite recovered from in a 129-115 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, snapping the Spurs’ franchise-worst 18-game losing streak. San Antonio never trailed, sprinting to a 28-10 lead and holding a 42-22 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

“Our team is not built to have three starters out, in that sense,” LeBron James said. “But you give credit where credit is due. San Antonio played great. They shot the ball extremely well. They attacked us. And we were just limited with bodies.”

James had 23 points, a season-high 14 assists, seven rebounds and two steals in his return after missing Wednesday’s game with a bruised left calf. He got the Lakers back into the game with nine assists in the second quarter – tied for the most he’s ever had in a single quarter – as the Lakers used a 38-17 run to trim the deficit to 66-62 and ultimately 69-62 at halftime.

But the Lakers (15-11) never did get over the hump. The closest they got in the second half was trailing 93-87 late in the third after James threw down a breakaway dunk off a turnover by Victor Wembanyama (13 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals, two blocked shots).

But the Spurs held on, taking a 98-87 lead into the fourth and starting the quarter on a 9-4 run. Jeremy Schohan’s dunk in transition extended the hosts’ lead to 116-96 midway through the fourth and essentially sealed the streak-stopping win.

“No one ever wants to get comfortable with losing but that said, super-duper proud of them,” Ham said. “They got up by a lot early, fought our way back into it just couldn’t get over the hump. Just the competitive spirit particularly in the second and third quarter.

“It’s tough when you don’t have three of your starters. Guys are being slotted in different places they’re normally not slotted. But again, no one feels sorry for you. You’ve got to keep digging away and try to get healthy as soon as possible.”

Devin Vassell led the Spurs (4-20) with 36 points and six rebounds. The win was the Spurs’ first since Nov. 2, when they beat the Phoenix Suns, 132-121.

Davis, who had 37 points and 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ 122-119 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday, was missed at both ends of the floor. The Lakers tried to counter his absence with a balanced scoring effort.

Austin Reaves had 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists while Christian Wood added 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks off the bench.




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