Spurs vs. Lakers: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2017 Regular Season
The San Antonio Spurs cruised to a 119-98 victory on the road over the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.
Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 25 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge chipped in with 16 points. Dewayne Dedmon finished a rebound short of a double-double (11 points, nine rebounds).
Dedmon benefited from nonexistent resistance inside from the Lakers to pull off a pair of highlight-reel dunks. He put Brandon Ingram on a poster in the first quarter and delivered a one-handed putback dunk off a Jonathon Simmons miss in the second quarter. Check those out below, courtesy of the Spurs' official Twitter account:
The trio of Ingram, D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson combined to score 59 points but received little support from the rest of the team. Ingram in particular had a nice game, scoring a career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
This was the Lakers' first home game since announcing they hired Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations. ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne tweeted Johnson was in attendance to get a firsthand look at the team.
The San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald identified one prospect Los Angeles' front office may want to pursue:
While Johnson showed up, the Lakers defense didn't. Los Angeles allowed San Antonio to shoot 52.1 percent from the field. The Spurs also knocked down 10 of their 21 attempts from beyond the arc.
Things got so bad for the Lakers that even NBA referee Scott Foster rubbed the score in one fan's face, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times:
The Lakers had no answer for Leonard in the first quarter. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year scored 16 points in the opening frame to help San Antonio build a 36-20 lead.
In Ingram, the Lakers have a long small forward they hope can duplicate Leonard's success. Hoop's Josh Eberley thought drawing any comparisons between the two players did a disservice to Leonard:
Ball movement played a big part in the Spurs growing their lead to 20 points by halftime. Twenty of the team's 26 made field goals in the first half came off assists. ESPN.com's Michael C. Wright noted Tony Parker's work in the blowout:
Shortly before the trade deadline, the Lakers dealt leading scorer Lou Williams to the Houston Rockets. Los Angeles netted Corey Brewer and a first-round pick from the trade to help the franchise's rebuild. While the move made sense, replacing Williams, who averaged 18.6 points for the Lakers in 2016-17, won't be easy.
Without the talented sixth man on the floor, the Lakers had little chance of overcoming their massive deficit in the second half.
Los Angeles will look to break its four-game losing skid against the Charlotte Hornets at home on Tuesday night. Some fans might argue the Lakers should continue losing in order to consolidate their draft position. The 2017 draft is one of the few sources of optimism for the Lakers, who have seven wins since the start of the new year.
The Spurs, meanwhile, are riding a four-game winning streak after Sunday's victory. They're four games back of the Golden State Warriors for first place in the Western Conference, which isn't an insurmountable gap. More than likely, though, San Antonio is playing to hold onto the second seed over the remainder of the regular season.
Postgame Reaction
Lakers head coach Luke Walton criticized his team's first-half performance, per the Associated Press' Greg Beacham (via the Orange County Register): "I don't know if it was the early start or what. I love our guys and I'm supportive toward them, and I think they did a good job in the second half. But that first half, that can't happen if we're trying to build and trying to get somewhere."
Johnson's presence with the Lakers in an official capacity is already paying dividends for the Lakers. After the game, Ingram said the legend had talked to him about being more aggressive in the paint, and the rookie had a career day scoring, per Spectrum SportsNet's Mike Trudell.
Popovich said he hopes Johnson can turn the Lakers into a title contender again, according to McDonald: "Magic's always been somewhat of an idol for what he accomplished not just one the court, but what he did after business-wise. Hopefully that will transfer, and hopefully he'll be very successful. I'm one of those people who believes having really good teams in big cities is important for the league. When big cities have good teams, it's good for everybody."
