National Basketball Association
San Antonio 116, L.A. Lakers 107
When: 10:30 PM ET, Friday, November 18, 2016
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials:
#24 Mike Callahan, #39 Tyler Ford, #61 Courtney Kirkland
Attendance:
18997
By The Sports Xchange
LOS ANGELES -- Almost to a man, the San Antonio Spurs said ball movement has played the biggest factor during their five-game winning streak.
"Ball movement, obviously, has been very good," point guard Tony Parker said. "Twenty-five plus assists, that's what we want. That's Spurs basketball."
LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points each to lead seven San Antonio players in double figures, and the Spurs held off the Los Angeles Lakers 116-107 on Friday night at Staples Center.
Leonard also collected 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Spurs (10-3), who posted their sixth consecutive victory over the Lakers. San Antonio is 7-0 on the road this season.
Former Laker Pau Gasol and Parker contributed 16 points apiece. Parker dished out seven assists.
"Tony knows the offense better than anybody, and he gets us organized in a lot of situations, so he has been really important since he came back from his injury," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who passed Larry Brown for seventh on the career wins list at 1,099.
Gasol said the Spurs' play in the second half was the difference.
"The second quarter was kind of a disaster for us, giving up 36 points after a really good defensive first quarter after we held them to 16," Gasol said. "It was just a matter of not going through the motions and defending this team."
Lou Williams scored 24 points to lead the Lakers (7-6). Nick Young added 22 points and Jordan Clarkson chipped in 20, 14 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
Young's streak of converting 35 straight free throws, dating to last season, ended with a miss in the first quarter. Young made 25 in a row this season.
Julius Randle had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles.
Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell sat out the game with a sore left knee.
The Lakers rallied from a double-digit lead to cut the Spurs' margin to 104-98 after a 3-pointer by Clarkson with 5:20 left. But two foul shots and a 3-point bucket by Leonard increased the deficit to 11.
Consecutive treys by Young and Clarkson pulled the Lakers within 109-104 with 1:43 remaining. Randle's free throw reduced the Spurs' edge to four 20 seconds later, but Los Angeles failed to score again.
"They just make you pay for every little mistake," Randle said of the Spurs. "I thought we did a good job of fighting. A decent job of executing, it's just any mistake that you make on the defensive end, they’re going to make you pay."
The Lakers outscored the Spurs 36-26 in the second quarter to force a tie at 52 at the break. The Lakers were able to stay even despite being outshot by the Spurs 55.3 percent to 43.2 percent in the first half.
Overall, the Spurs hit 56.4 percent of their shots to 44.8 percent for the Lakers.
"I was proud of the way we fought, but it wasn't consistent enough," Lakers coach Luke Walton said. "That's as good as it gets in the other locker room, they make you pay for your mistakes, they make you pay when you drive into traffic and try to make it happen on your own. I feel we had too many of those possessions."
In the third quarter, the Lakers scored the first five points to go up 57-52, but the Spurs answered with a 28-9 spurt for an 80-66 advantage after a Leonard jumper with 4:17 left in the quarter.
San Antonio led 91-76 heading into the fourth quarter.
"Tonight we got 30 assists, which is a good number for us," Gasol said. "We want to continue to do that because we have so many talented and great players that when we move the ball we're hard to stop."
NOTES: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says he speaks with retired F Tim Duncan almost daily. Popovich said Duncan sometimes attends practices and encourages some of the younger players. Although Popovich doubts Duncan will work for the club full time as an assistant coach, Duncan will occasionally perform scouting duties. ... Los Angeles coach Luke Walton and San Antonio F/C Pau Gasol were teammates on the 2009 and 2010 Lakers' championship teams. Walton and Gasol were also the team's best ping-pong players, according to Walton. ... Walton said PG D'Angelo Russell has been experiencing pain in his left knee for several games. ... Spurs backup C Dewayne Dedmon missed his second game with a sprained left knee. ... The Spurs return home to face the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. ... The Lakers host the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.
Top Game Performances
San Antonio |
|
L.A. Lakers |
LaMarcus Aldridge 23 |
Scoring |
Lou Williams 24 |
Kawhi Leonard 7 |
Assists |
Julius Randle 7 |
Kawhi Leonard 12 |
Rebounds |
Julius Randle 9 |
Kawhi Leonard 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Lou Williams 4 |
LaMarcus Aldridge 2 |
Steals |
Jordan Clarkson 2 |
LaMarcus Aldridge 3 |
Blocks |
Nick Young 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
San Antonio
|
116 |
56.4 |
10-24 |
18-19 |
30 |
34 |
6 |
8 |
12 |
L.A. Lakers
|
107 |
44.8 |
12-25 |
17-21 |
24 |
45 |
1 |
6 |
14 |
Upcoming Games
-
L.A. Lakers will play their next game at home against Chicago. The Lakers have a W/L % of .429 after a win and .667 after a loss.
-
San Antonio will play their next game at home against Dallas. The Spurs have a W/L % of .800 after a win and .667 after a loss.