New FSM Essential Recap: Lakers vs Spurs - Game 14

New FSM Essential Recap: Lakers vs Spurs – Game 14

Franchise Sports Media

Los Angeles Lakers (8-6) | San Antonio Spurs (4-9)

 

The Los Angeles Lakers rebounded with a victory over the San Antonio Spurs by a final score of 114-106

 

The Lakers were without Kent Bazemore and DeAndre Jordan due to a coach’s decision, while Austin Reaves and LeBron James continue to recover from injuries.

The teams traded scoring plays early on, not allowing each other to gain forward steam. Anthony Davis started the scoring with a jump shot after he won the opening tip against Drew Eubanks. After five minutes, the game was tied at 13 after a Derrick White three-pointer.

Davis untied the game by throwing down an alley-oop dunk from Talen Horton-Tucker which was followed up by a jump shot from Russell Westbrook to increase the lead to four.

With less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Malik Monk tied the game at 24 with a driving layup but was answered by a jump shot from Thaddeus Young. The Spurs fought back as Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell each hit threes to give San Antonio a two-point lead.

The Lakers gained momentum in the quarter’s final minute as Davis hit a three to give Los Angeles a two-point lead again, and Wayne Ellington drilled a three after a White turnover, extending the lead to five as the first quarter ended with the Lakers up 34-29.

The second quarter began at a fast pace for the Lakers, as they opened up with an 8-0 run. Points from Dwight Howard, Westbrook, and Horton-Tucker swelled the margin up to a 13 point lead in the first two minutes. Johnson stopped the bleeding with a three to cut the deficit to 10, but Carmelo Anthony responded with a mid-range jumper. Johnson tried to keep the Spurs close as he nailed two straight threes from downtown to cut the Lakers’ lead to six.

Los Angeles hit another wave of momentum as Ellington hit two threes of his own along with a Monk floater for another 8-0 run to build the lead to 14. Dejounte Murray began to catch fire for San Antonio as he swished a three with less than three minutes left in the half, followed by a White dunk and a Vassell jump shot. Murray added a jump shot with 55 seconds left in the half to cut the Lakers’ lead to five. Davis and Murray traded two-point shots in the final half-minute as the second buzzer sounded.

 

The Lakers went into the locker room with a 60-55 lead over the Spurs at the half.

 

The Lakers and Spurs began the second half with relatively evened-out gameplay, but Los Angeles ended up with a 10-point lead after a Westbrook three with 9:27 remaining in the quarter. A minute and a half later, Anthony hit a three and the and-one free throw to build the lead to 13. San Antonio began fighting back once more with points from Vassell and Young, bringing the game’s point difference within single digits.

Halfway through the quarter, Murray threw a dunk down to cut the lead to seven. Ellington hit another three with four minutes left in the third quarter, only for Lonnie Walker IV and Doug McDermott to cut the game down to a six-point game. Davis started another brief scoring run for the Lakers with a step-back jumper, and an Ellington three following Monk free throws resulted in another 13 point lead. White ended the scoring for the quarter with a hook shot with 1:22 left, as the Lakers took a 90-79 lead into the fourth quarter.

There was no scoring for the first 1:15 of the fourth quarter before Johnson started the scoring with a three to cut the Spurs’ deficit to eight. After two and a half minutes of tradeoffs, the Lakers saw another double-digit lead with seven minutes left as the lead was at 11. After another minute passed without a score, Vassell hit a three to make it an eight-point game, but the Lakers continued to prevent the Spurs from gaining any head of steam.

San Antonio made it interesting with 3:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, as Young made a layup to make it a five-point game, and McDermott followed with a three, setting the score at 105-103 in favor of Los Angeles. A surge of seven straight points by the Lakers turned out to be enough, as the game got out of reach despite a Johnson three with 54.6 seconds left. Two Davis free throws later, the buzzer sounded to end the game with the Lakers defeating the Spurs 114-106.

It was a much better effort for the Lakers this time around, as six players scored in double figures. Davis led all scores by recording another double-double with 34 points and 15 rebounds. Horton-Tucker scored 17 points in his return to the starting lineup, while Monk scored 16 off the bench. Ellington hit five threes in total in the game for 15 points in 30 minutes off the bench, while Anthony scored 15 points in his first start of the season. Westbrook recorded a double-double as well, with 14 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes of action.

The Spurs saw five players score in double figures, led by Johnson with 24 points and Murray, recording a triple-double with 22 points, ten rebounds, and ten assists. Vassell scored 19 points off the bench, while Young added 17 points in 26 minutes, and White contributed with 10 points in 29 minutes.

 

The Lakers’ next game will wrap up their five-game homestand as they host the Chicago Bulls at Staples Center on Monday November 15th. The game will start at 7:30 PM PT and can be seen on Spectrum SportsNet.

Lakers vs Spurs                        Lakers vs Spurs                       Lakers vs Spurs                           Lakers vs Spurs                         Lakers vs Spurs                        Lakers vs Spurs                       Lakers vs Spurs                           Lakers vs Spurs                       Lakers vs Spurs                      

– Matt Dobbs – Franchise Sports Media

Follow Matt on Twitter @RecordBowlerFSM

Follow The Franchise on social media

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube