FOURTH QUARTER:
Back-to-back threes from LeBron James gave the Lakers a 96-85 lead with 8 minutes left in the game. The shot gave James 31 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep.
Demarre Carroll has guarded LeBron when he's been on the floor, which hasn't been much. Coach Pop has also kept Lonnie Walker and Marco Belinelli rooted firmly to the bench. Their battle for wing minutes off the bench has been a topic of conversation on Spurs Twitter, but they won't have much to say Monday night.
Earlier in the game, LeBron reached a major milestone. Only four players in NBA history have made more field goals.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Spurs have five points in the period. That's no way to come from behind. The Lakers' lead grew to 98-87 in that time.
The Spurs never closed the gap, and both teams pulled their star players in the final minute with the Lakers ahead by 12. They went on to win by 10.
Derrick White provided the top highlight of the fourth quarter for the Spurs. He finished with 11 points. Bryn Forbes had 13. Stars LaMarcus Aldridge (30 points) and DeMar DeRozan (24 points) led the Spurs.
For the Lakers, Anthony Davis scored 15 points in the second half to finish with 19. LeBron James had game-highs of 33 points and 14 assists.
THIRD QUARTER:
After three, the Lakers lead 86-82.
Anthony Davis doubled his scoring total in the third quarter after scoring just 4 points in the first half. The Lakers pulled ahead, 74-73, midway through the third quarter.
LaMarcus Aldridge picked up where he left off in the first half, notching 9 more points in the first few minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan missed his first four shots of the half. Bryn Forbes joined them in double digit scoring, meaning each team has three such players with 4:40 to go in the third.
For the Lakers, along with LeBron, it's Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The Lakers don't have a good answer for LaMarcus Aldridge. JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard aren't comfortable defending further from the hoop, and LeBron works best as a help defender or free safety. Even Anthony Davis hasn't been able to slow down LMA.
The Spurs, especially Dejounte Murray, are fun when they run the break. This bucket brought the Spurs within one point, but the Lakers kept firing back. They're getting an outstanding performance from Rajon Rondo, who has never been a sharpshooter. However, Rondo is 3-of-3 from long range through three quarters.
HALFTIME:
LeBron James is leading all scorers with 19 points, but the Spurs have kept Lakers co-star Anthony Davis under control. AD has just 4 points on 2-of-10 shooting. The Lakers aren't shooting as well as the Spurs, but they have been getting after the offensive glass. Davis has 6 offensive rebounds by himself, more than the Spurs had as a team.
The Spurs have been the better team from long range, making 7 of 14 shots from behind the arc. Patty Mills made a pair of threes, and five other players made one. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 16 points, and DeMar DeRozan tallied 12 points on just 8 shots.
The Spurs made the move to place Derrick White in the starting lineup and bring Dejounte Murray off the bench. That paid dividends for the starters, who combined for 10 assists and one turnover. Murray, meanwhile, scored 2 points and turned it over three times while dropping two dimes.
The Spurs almost had a bigger lead at halftime, but the Lakers completed this sequence for a buzzer-beating three.
SECOND QUARTER:
At halftime, the Spurs lead 56-54.
The Spurs started the second quarter trailing 25-22, but there's a silver lining in the form of LaMarcus Aldridge. According to Spurs PR guy Jordan Howenstine, the Spurs are 36-10 all-time when Aldridge scores 10 or more points in the first quarter. He had 12 in the first 12 minutes Monday.
The Lakers retained a slight edge in the first part of the second quarter. When Aldridge headed to the bench, DeMar DeRozan and Patty Mills picked up the scoring, but the Silver & Black had no answer for LeBron James, who had 12 points in the first 6 minutes of the period. A lot of his points came via dunks.
The King just makes it look so easy.
Fortunately for the Spurs, King James isn't playing all 48 minutes, and the Silver & Black have good depth -- and they're shooting the ball well Monday.
If opposing defenses focus on the midrange shooting and driving abilities of stars like DeRozan, Alrdidge and Dejounte Murray, role players need to knock down open shots. Trey Lyles did that here.
FIRST QUARTER:
After one, the Lakers lead the Spurs, 25-22.
At the first timeout, the Spurs lead 7-6 with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter. Or, more accurately, LMarcus Aldridge leads the Lakers 7-6. LMA took 6 of the Spurs' first 9 shots, hitting three, including one from long range.
The Spurs are going with a starting lineup of White-Forbes-DeRozan-Aldridge-Poelt, while the Lakers have Danny Green Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and JaVale McGee to begin.
The Lakers surged ahead, 18-16, with 2:39 to play in the quarter at the next stoppage in the game. The purple & gold were 0-for-3 from long distance, but collected 4 offensive rebounds. The inability to finish possessions on defense has been a problem for the Spurs this month. They're already not efficient on D, so it's important to get the rebound on opposing misses.
If style points were a thing, the Spurs would have a few more points on the board. Patty and DeMar weren't big stat-sheet stuffers in the opening frame, but these moves were tasty.
PREGAME:
The Spurs got the monkey off their back, so to speak, with Saturday's 111-104 win over the Knicks. The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak, the team's longest skid of the 21st century. Now the Spurs will look to a stretch of three straight home games to try to get back on track.
It won't be easy, with three very good Western Conference teams rolling into San Antonio during the week of Thanksgiving. Before the Timberwolves on Wednesday and the Clippers on Friday, the Spurs must contend with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.
The Lakers enter Monday's game with a 14-2 record, best in the NBA. They're on a seven-game win streak and are getting exceptional play from their superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They are averaging a combined 50.7 points, 16.4 rebounds and 14.4 assists in their first season as teammates. Davis has averaged 25.5 points per game, just slightly ahead of James (25.2).
The Spurs defense will be the focus for Gregg Popovich on Monday. Defensively, the Spurs rank 27th in the league with 113.1 points allowed per 100 possessions, according to ESPN. That number rises to 115.3 in November, when the Spurs are 3-11.
Tip-off for Monday night's game is set for 7:30 p.m. at the AT&T Center. The game can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
