SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs dominated the last basketball game at the Staples Center behind an unlikely career-high 30 points from Keita Bates-Diop. The entire San Antonio team bombed the Lakers out of their building, hitting 18-39 from three.
Game Story
First Quarter
The game started with a turnover by Russell Westbrook, then a pump-and-fire three from Doug McDermott. LeBron James made his mark on the game early with a pair of post-up buckets and a three, but McDermott answered with his second three of the game. Jakob Poeltl popped home a few floaters from the paint as well.
Keldon Johnson checked LeBron in the post and forced a fadeaway miss, then Derrick White spun in transition and found a cutting Dejounte Murray for an easy layup.
San Antonio built a five-point lead but surrendered a 6-0 run before Lonnie Walker IV hit a corner three with a hand in his face. Dejounte blocked a driving LeBron, then Keldon kissed home a layup. James tied the game at 21 before Dejounte drained a triple.
Jock Landale grabbed a loose ball and hit some free throws, then Walker hit again from outside to give the Spurs their biggest lead of the game at eight points.
Landale finished the period by beating the buzzer with a tip-in to put the Spurs up 33-24.
Second Quarter
Lonnie opened the quarter with his third three of the game. He missed his next, but Landale got the board, Lonnie got it back, and found Landale with a driving dime.
Jock followed it up with a three, putting the Spurs up 11. Derrick White finished with a smart layup, then hit a triple on a feed from Walker to make it a 13-point game.
Landale scored inside again, and Keita Bates-Diop picked off a pass by LeBron before taking it coast to coast.
Down 13 again, LeBron did that thing where he stares at the ball before stepping back for three, and it fell.
KBD finished off a feed from Murray and got an and-1, then dunked on a pretty pass from White to put the Spurs up 15. Los Angeles scored a few times, then Murray found Bates-Diop again for a layup. Derrick White swatted the King at the rim, and on the other end Keldon Johnson tipped in a miss.
Devin Vassell pulled up in pick and roll and drained the shot, then McDermott finished a difficult reverse under the basket in transition.
A Carmelo Anthony three cut the Laker's deficit to single digits for the first time in ten minutes of play. Derrick White rectified that with a wide-open three on a feed from Murray.
San Antonio led 66-55 at the half.
Third Quarter
Los Angeles turned it over to start the half, Derrick White drained his third triple of the game, and Jakob Poeltl gave the Spurs their largest lead of the game at 16 points with a push shot over LeBron.
After a big block by Dejounte Murray, Poeltl hit another paint push. Keldon Johnson set a screen for Murray and got the ball back for a wide-open three, then got to the line for free throws.
Keita Bates-Diop became the Spurs' leading scorer after finishing over LeBron and tipping in a miss.
Keldon hit another three, Lonnie Walker IV drained a jumper, and the Spurs led by 17. the Lakers clawed back a bit, but KBD scored again as did Walker, who appeared to talk a bit of smack to nobody in particular afterward.
The Lakers cut San Antonio's lead back to single digits again, but Derrick confidently hit a pull-up three and then found Bates-Diop underneath for another tough finish. After a stop, White drove past a monster screen from Poeltl and hit a cutting KBD again, giving the Spurs a 105-92 lead heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Derrick White picked up where he left off, driving in off a screen and kissing it off the window and in. He missed his next shot, but then got to the free throw line where he extended his streak to 33 makes in a row, the longest active streak in the NBA.
Poeltl got the ball on a roll, but instead of tossing up that pop-a-shot, he kicked to KBD who hit a three and reached a new career-high of 24 points. The Spurs built the lead out to 18 points.
Lonnie Walker IV drove in pick and roll, then threw an absurd behind-the-back feed to Jock Landale for an easy dunk. A little later, Lonnie drilled a three to put the Spurs up 20 and give him 21 points.
Bates-Diop hit a pair of threes late to add to his career-high 30 points, hitting 11-11 from the floor and becoming the first Spur to score 30 points this season.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (12-18) will visit the Los Angeles Lakers (16-16) Thursday night. The Spurs are 0-1 versus the Lakers this season.
In the Spurs' previous game, the team went into Los Angeles to face the Clippers and got a convincing 116-92 road win.
Dejounte Murray led the team with another triple-double on the season with 24 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. Jakob Poeltl added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Keldon Johnson finished with 12 points.
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. The Lakers have lost three straight games.
2. In their last 10 overall regular-season games, the Lakers are 8-2 against the Spurs.
3. The Lakers are 12-8 versus sub-.500 West teams.
4. The Spurs are averaging 47.5 rebounds per game in December. Their highest average this season.
5. The Spurs have out-rebounded their opponents in two-straight games.
Stay here at KENS 5 throughout the season for complete Spurs coverage.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5