SAN ANTONIO —
Postgame
Game Story
First Quarter
San Antonio opened the game with a dribble handoff from Poeltl to McDermott for a scoop layup. Josh Richardson slid into the starting lineup for Devin Vassell, and quickly pumped at the arc and drove to the paint for a floater.
Dejounte Murray found the soft spot in the defense for a mid-range pull-up to make it 6-1 Spurs.
Jakob Poeltl picked up two quick fouls in the first 90 seconds, and Zach Collins came in for him. LA put up a 6-0 run for the lead before a pair of paint scores by Murray and then McDermott. DJ picked Russell Westbrook's pocket and then spun into the paint for another bucket, forcing a Lakers timeout.
Westbrook bricked a three and then got swatted by Murray at the rim, but the struggle to score was shared pretty evenly by all players on the floor. Doug McDermott got a wide open three, and it popped up high off the rim before sinking for the slumping shooter. LA responded with a pair of layups, and Pop called time with a 16-15 lead.
Zach Collins posted up and put his body into Carmelo Anthony for a fading bucket. Melo answered with a three on the other end, then Keldon scored on him in the paint. Romeo Langford made his debut for San Antonio.
Tre Jones hit a mid-range pull-up, but the Lakers tied it at 22. Jones passed it to Jock Landale in the paint for a dunk, Westbrook turned it over, and Romeo Langford ran pick and roll for a tough mid-air adjustment and his first bucket for San Antonio. The next trip, he cut to an opening in the paint and leapt skyward for the dunk.
Dejounte dribbled out the clock, drew multiple defenders, and hit Primo on the wing for a three that made it a 9-0 run to close the quarter. San Antonio led 31-22 after one.
Second Quarter
DJ scored in the paint through a foul by Dwight Howard, then found Landale on a cut for a bucket.
Murray stabbed at the ball and poked it all the way to the other end of the court, where he picked it up and laid it in to give the Spurs their biggest lead yet at 12.
LA hit a three, then Langford hit a mid-range jumper. Murray hit Landale for another layup and made it 13. The Lakers answered, then Keldon made a tough basket through contact. LA hit again, but DJ eurostepped through rookie Austin Reaves for an and-1.
Richardson missed, but Poeltl put it back in. He went for another offensive board and got free throws, hitting one to make it 13. Westbrook sparked a 6-0 run, and Pop called time.
Primo dribbled around a screen and finished off the glass, then he cut and grabbed a pass under the basket before scooping it to Keldon for a score. Murray bounced a pass to Poeltl for a floater, then Jones scored on a cut. Murray pulled up and hit a three, but the Spurs gave up a layup and didn't get a good shot to close the half, which irked Gregg Popovich. The Spurs led 62-56.
Third Quarter
Keldon Johnson banged a three to start the second half for the Spurs. San Antonio made a few miscues, Reaves hit an open three, then got to the rim to make it a 7-0 Lakers run to cut the Spurs' lead to one. McDermott hit a three, then passed to Josh Richardson for three more to go back up 5. LA got two buckets in the paint, and Pop called time.
Josh Richardson hit in the paint, but Dwight Howard tied the game at 73 with an and-1. Murray scored, but then gave up an and-1 and the lead to Westbrook. Jock Landale and Keldon Johnson both got a hand on the same putback dunk, and Richardson hit from deep. Doug McDermott got three free throws, but missed two of them.
Landale stymied Westbrook under the basket, and DJ found Richardson in transition for another three. Keldon got free throws in transition to push the lead back to 6.
Romeo Langford got back in the game and used a strong drive to get to the stripe. Keldon Johnson cut and went up for a dunk on Melo, but adjusted through the foul and hit a layup instead. Primo hit a free throw to put the Spurs up 8, but San Antonio really struggled at the line as a team. LA answered with a quick 5-0 run, then Langford found Poeltl for a score inside.
Jones got to the line, but the team's most accurate free thrower missed the first. Langford got fouled and missed both, but Poeltl grabbed the miss and put it back in. San Antonio shot 11-22 on free points in the first three quarters. Melo scored from mid-range and then hit free throws, making it 95-92 Spurs heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Murray mishandled the ball on the first possession, and the Lakers hit a three to tie it at 95. DJ again got a switch on Melo, but got blocked as the shot clock expired.
Westbrook got stopped at the rim by Primo, then DJ got the the rim and scored. Murray handed McDermott a wide-open three, but he missed it. Westbrook scored inside to tie, Melo blocked Poeltl in the paint, and then Poeltl got called for an illegal screen.
Primo again played good defense in the paint, and again it led to a transition layup by Murray. Melo got called for an offensive foul, then DJ stopped and popped on him for a bucket. Richardson pressured Melo around a screen, and he dribbled out of bounds. On the other end, Poeltl buried him under the rim and hit a hook to put San Antonio up 6.
LA answered, but Poeltl got another in the paint. Tre Jones jumped a passing lane for a steal, and got it to Richardson for a three that got the crowd roaring and put the Spurs up 9.
The Lakers scored six in a row, and Pop called time to put Dejounte Murray back in the game. DJ immediately hit from mid-range, then Poeltl got a pair of free throws to go before scoring again on an offensive board to put the Spurs up 8.
Both offenses stalled out, turned it over and clanged shots off the iron from all areas of the floor. The Lakers got one bucket, the officials called a carry for the first time in the game, and the Lakers scored again. Poeltl got fouled in the paint and hit a free throw to make it a 5-point game with 37 seconds left.
Jak helped stop a layup attempt and got the board, then got fouled and hit both to make it an insurmountable 7-point lead. San Antonio won 117-110, pulling them 3.5 games back of the Lakers as both teams push for the play-in. Gregg Popovich tied Don Nelson for the most regular season wins by a head coach in NBA history.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (24-40) are back home to host the Los Angeles Lakers (28-35) and look to snap their four-game losing skid.
San Antonio is 1-2 versus the Lakers this season. Before the game, Gregg Popovich glowed about LeBron James and compared the experience of watching him to the experience of watching Michael Jordan play. Fortunately for the Spurs, LeBron is resting his knee tonight after scoring 56 in a win over the Warriors.
In their previous game, the Spurs lost to the Hornets, 123-117.
Keldon Johnson had a career-high in scoring with 33 points. Dejounte Murray had 25 points and 10 assists. Devin Vassell had 14 points and four rebounds.
"The end of quarters is still a learning situation for us. But playing as hard as they did on the road was great. We'll just continue to learn and become more solid," Gregg Popovich said.
Here are five things to watch for in Monday night's game:
1. The Lakers are 9-19 on the road this season.
2. The Lakers are 7-0 when they hold opponents to 99 points and under.
3. The Lakers are 19-17 versus teams with a below .500 record this season.
4. The Spurs have lost five-straight games to the Lakers at home.
5. The Spurs average 28.2 assists per game, for the most assists in the NBA.
Stay here at KENS 5 throughout the season for complete Spurs coverage.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5