SAN ANTONIO — Leading by only four after three quarters, the Los Angeles Lakers rode a stellar fourth period by LeBron James to beat the Spurs 114-104 on Monday night at the AT&T Center.
James scored 12 of his 33 points in the final quarter and had 14 assists for the game, sparking the Lakers (15-2) to their eighth consecutive victory. Los Angeles has the best record in the NBA.
James made 13 of 24 shots, including 4 of 7 from the three-point line. The only downside of his game was at the free-throw line, where he was 3 of 8. But he carried L.A. in the fourth quarter, hitting 4 of 8 shots, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Lakers forward Anthony Davis also had a double-double, finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
The loss was the ninth in the last 10 games for the Spurs, who dropped to 6-12. The Silver and Black snapped an eight-game losing streak, their longest since the 1996-97 season, Saturday against the New York Knicks.
The matchup against the Lakers was the first for the Spurs since returning home from a four-game road trip that ended in New York.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was hardly downcast after the game.
"I thought we did a good job," he said.."It's the first game after a long road trip. That's always tough. But I thought the energy was great and I thought we did a lot of good things. Sometimes we get in our own way.
"A couple of bad transitions. We gave up a couple of threes in a row. LeBron had a good stretch there, but all in all, I was pleased with a lot of things that I saw. We're on the right track."
Los Angeles, which is 2-0 against San Antonio this season, also got double-digit scoring from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (14), Rajon Rondo (13), Troy Daniels (11) and Kyle Kuzma (10). Rondo nailed 3 of 3 three-pointers.
LaMarcus Aldridge led the scoring for the Spurs (6-12) with 30 points. DeMar DeRozan finished with 24 points, and was followed by Bryn Forbes (13) and Derrick White (11).
Monday night's game against was the first of three in a row at home for the Spurs, who are 4-5 at the AT&T Center this season. The Silver and Black host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday and Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.
PHOTOS: Spurs fall to Lakers, 114-104
Aldridge had 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the third quarter, but the Lakers still headed into the final period with an 86-82 lead.
Aldridge scored 16 points and DeRozan had 12 to lead the Spurs to a 56-54 halftime lead. DeRozan hit a mid-range jumper over James to put the Silver and Black up 56-51, but Caldwell-Pope nailed a buzzer-beating three-pointer to make it a two-point game at the break.
The Spurs shot well in the first half, hitting 24 of 45 field-goal attempts for 53.3 percent, including 7 of 14 from the three-point line.
James carried L.A.'s first-half scoring with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Rondo, who was 2 of 2 from beyond the arc, had 10 points at the break and was the only other Laker in double figures.
Los Angeles shot 45.8 percent overall (22-48) and 35.7 percent (5-14) from long distance.