Season 50, Game 39
San Antonio 134, Los Angeles Lakers 94
31-8, 2nd in the West
What the heck do I need to say about a 40-point shellacking of the Los Angeles Lakers?
It’s always nice to bounce back so positively after a tough loss. This team has shown plenty of resiliency in that regard, and you’ll rarely see two flat games in a row. It’s always nice to beat the Lakers, but without Kobe around, it lacks a little punch.
The Spurs scored 134 points, a high for the season. They beat the Lakers by 40, a high for the season. They shot 60.5% from the field, an almost impossible number in a professional basketball game. (Also, a high for the season.) They were 48% from 3, 90% from the line. Pau Gasol was 9-for-9, Kawhi Leonard was 9-for-13 (and could have scored 40 if the game was even remotely close), Tony Parker was 6-for-10 (and got anywhere he wanted; I’m not sure if this is a positive in the ledger for Parker or a complete indictment of the Lakers’ porous defense), and Jonathon Simmons was 6-for-8.
Those are just the stand outs. Every single player who suited up for the Spurs scored a point. Which leads to my favorite stat of the night: the Spurs outscored the Lakers 28-19 in the fourth quarter.
This was a fourth quarter that was entirely garbage time, with both teams liberally playing the end of their benches. Normally, in a blow out, the losing team will often make up ground in garbage time, particularly against the Spurs. The Spurs are often still running their system, while the opposing team is players gunning for shots and more playing time. If nothing else, it’s usually very high scoring, as the game can often devolve into “summer league”-style play.
But on this night, the Spurs deep bench put up 28 and, more impressively, held the Lakers bench (though Julius Randle still played most of the quarter) to 19, the lowest scoring quarter of the night for Los Angeles. Sure, you can argue the Lakers bench is bereft of talent. I’d prefer to see it as the Spurs continuing to run their system and bust their butts on defense.
The Spurs travel to Mexico City to face the Suns on Saturday. The last time the Spurs tried to play in Mexico, something caught on fire, the building filled with smoke, and the game was canceled. I don’t think that will happen this time.
Mexico City is at alitude (higher than Denver), and Phoenix has been there since Wednesday (and already played one game there), so this has trap game potential. It’l be interesting to see how Pop plays this one. Either way, this is a team we should beat anywhere, any time, under any conditions.
Go Spurs Go.
