Lakers woes continue in loss to the Spurs.
After their bounce-back win over the Warriors, the Lakers went into last night’s matchup without LeBron James, who was out due to knee soreness, which was reported before the game as “significant enough for us to hold him out.”
In a back and forth offensive battle, the Spurs matched every Laker bucket, scoring easily at times against their defense, with the Lakers eventually falling late in the 4th to San Antonio 117–110, dropping the Lakers record to 28–36.
In a night without LeBron, the Lakers had a noticeable missing link in their offense, with just five players scoring in double figures. Talen Horton-Tucker was the Lakers leading scorer in tonight’s loss, scoring 18 points on 50% (7-for-14) shooting, with a plus/minus of -13 in his 30 minutes of action.
Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony were the Lakers' most productive sparks in the Lakers lineup, with Westbrook finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists with the only positive plus/minus of +5.
After the game, Westbrook shared his thoughts on the comments made by his wife, saying she and her family are “harassed on a daily basis.” Later saying: “I stand behind my wife with how she’s feeling. It’s reached a point where it’s really weighing on my family.”
Carmelo Anthony finished with an energetic outing, finishing with 17 points on 50% (6-for-12) shooting overall, adding 7 rebounds and a sequence of multiple defensive plays as he finished with two blocks on the night in 30 minutes off the bench.
Despite being one of the Lakers' most consistent players this season, Malik Monk struggled to get shots to fall, scoring 17 points on 22 shot attempts and shooting 36% on 8 of 22 shooting in 33 minutes.
Malik Monk talked about the difference-makers for the Spurs down the stretch, saying: “I don’t think we did a good job of keeping [their bigs] off the glass.”
The Lakers’ next matchup comes on the road this Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, who sit 16–49 on the season and should be a fair matchup for the Lakers, who are desperate for a win.