The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in an eventful overtime win.
The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the San Antonio Spurs 143-142 as the Spurs rallied to hold on to a win at Staples Center behind DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge’s monster stat lines.
LeBron James missed back to back free throws to ensure a three-point Lakers lead with 12.8 seconds left in overtime. Following James’ missed free throws, Patty Mills made a jump shot to give San Antonio the edge to take the win.
The Spurs led the Lakers by eight with 1:10 left in regulation after an Aldridge putback layup then the Lakers rallied to tie the game at 128-128 with 3.3 seconds left on James’ three-point shot.
James and rookie Jonathan Williams had a productive overtime to give Los Angeles a chance to pull out their first win of the season. Williams’ play was controlled on both ends of the floor as he made a huge block on DeRozan’s driving lay-up with 1:05 left in overtime.
To match his defensive intensity in his NBA debut, Williams contributed offensively when needed and finished with eight points, four rebounds, and three blocks. James finished the game with 32 points, eight rebounds, and 14 assists.
San Antonio started this game hot in the first quarter. After the Lakers led early 3-2, the Spurs went on a scoring tear, especially from the three-point line while also shifting the tempo in their favor. At one point in the first quarter, San Antonio was 14-17 from beyond the arc and Los Angeles could not combat that.
Marco Belinelli’s three-pointer in the first quarter extended the Spurs lead to 17 at 35-18 with 1:33 left in the quarter. Bryn Forbes’ long three-pointer started the Spurs’ performance from beyond the arc when his shot gave them a 14-7 early in the first quarter. The Spurs finished the game shooting 53.6 percent as they were 15-28 from the three-point line.
Aldridge and DeRozan’s performances in this game kept the Spurs afloat as their teammates’ play also contributed to the win. Aldridge got to the line a fair amount of times as he was 11-18 from the charity stripe. DeRozan had a productive scoring game and facilitated the ball to his teammates throughout the game.
Aldridge finished the game with 37 points on 13-22 field goals, 10 rebounds, and five assists. DeRozan scored 32 points on 11-29 field goals, 14 assists, and eight rebounds. With Mills’ game-winning shot, he finished the game with 12 points, two rebounds, and three assists.
Los Angeles got good performances offensively from a number of players, but just could not get enough stops on the defensive end of the floor as they gave up 143 points in this contest. The Lakers allowed the Spurs to get to the line 38 times and the Spurs’ free throw percentage in the game was at 73.7.
San Antonio made Los Angeles turn the ball over 15 times in comparison to the Spurs’ nine turnovers in the contest.
Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball replaced Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo, both serving suspensions from their brawl with the Houston Rockets this weekend, and had excellent offensive performances. Kuzma finished just a point shy of his career high with 37 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Ball had 14 points on 3-7 three-point shooting, six assists, and six rebounds.
Kuzma made a three-point shot with 35.6 left in overtime to get the Lakers within three at 128-125. Ball’s three-pointer got Los Angeles within four with 2:50 left in the quarter at 137-133.
The Lakers have been staying in games with their offense and fast pace, but their defense has not kept up as they have given up an average 131.7 points in these first three games of the season. Los Angeles has to get play defense by committee in order to balance themselves in the games.
Los Angeles is now 0-3 to start the season as both the Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder are the only winless teams in the Western Conference.
The Lakers will travel to Phoenix to play the (1-2) Phoenix Suns at 7 p.m. on League Pass as they strive to get their first win of the season.