The San Antonio Spurs entered Wednesday’s contest against the Los Angeles Lakers as one of the best third-quarter teams in the league, but were outscored in what ultimately became a losing effort at home.
SAN ANTONIO — Harrison Barnes’ fanfare didn’t stop Wednesday evening at Frost Bank Center.
Prior to the game, Keldon Johnson — back for his second straight game after dealing with some hamstring tightness — made his way to center court for a special annoucement over the Arena’s PA system.
What’s up Spurs family,” he began loudly. “Give it up for the Western Conference Player of the Week: Harrison Barnes!”
The San Antonio Spurs’ faithful cheered for the 13-year veteran as both sides’ introductions began. And by time the final buzzer sounded, Barnes had tallied 19 points and five 3-pointers in a losing effort against the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.
San Antonio started quick behind a pair of three-point plays from Julian Champagnie, who notched 18 points and three 3s and Victor Wembanyama, who once again notched a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but ultimately couldn’t keep up with the hot-handed Lakers as it fell 119-101 at home.
Leading the way for the Lakers was explosive big man Anthony Davis, who notched a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double of his own and a litany of others, including third-year guard Max Christie, Rui Hachimura and rookie sharpshooter Dalton Knecht, who tallied 20 points.
Entering the night, San Antonio was particularly strong in third quarters, winning 14-of-18 with a plus-73 point margin, but in a season rarity, the final two minutes of the penultimate period proved to be costly. Christie led the charge as the Spurs couldn’t gain up traction from halftime to enter the fourth quarter down by 15.
It felt like we had some things that got us back into the game,” Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said of the Spurs’ third-quarter effort, “but we didn’t sustain it.”
From there, a few would-be comeback bids were stifled by the Lakers’ continued shooting. LeBron James found his groove late, finishing the game with a 16-point triple-double, and Los Angeles pulled away from its hosts to secure a 119-101 win despite Wembanyama’s best efforts.
With the loss, the Spurs fall to 10-9 on the season — still above .500 — 7-5 since Jeremy Sochan’s injury and 8-6 in the Mitch Johnson era. Next for them is a road trip to Sacramento, Ca. on Sunday night where they’ll face the kings.
