San Antonio Spurs rout Los Angeles Lakers yet again, even with Kobe Bryant back – NBA Recap
The San Antonio Spurs dominated the Los Angeles Lakers yet again here on Friday night, handing them their worst loss of the season. The Spurs went 1 up on their previous 112-91 victory over the Lakers, which at that time was the
season’s worst loss for L.A.
This time around, the Spurs handed them a 121-97 defeat, winning by a margin of 24 points. The Spurs dominated almost every area of the game as the Lakers looked a bit puzzled with their offense after the return of Kobe Bryant.
Kobe has missed the last 7 games of the Lakers due to a shin injury but the Lakers had been playing well without him. Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace had stepped up and improved their numbers in Kobe’s absence. However when Kobe
returned on Friday night, both players struggled on the court. For San Antonio, their Big Three in Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker all scored at least 20 points to lead their team to victory.
The game was quite evenly placed in the first half, with San Antonio jumping to a 32-25 lead at the end of the 1st period but the Lakers coming back quickly at the start of the 2nd period to score 7 straight
points and tie the game at 32. San Antonio went into halftime holding a 56-52 advantage over the Lakers.
It was the 3rd quarter where the game would switch gears, with San Antonio outscoring the Lakers 35-21. The Spurs, already holding a 75-65 lead over the Lakers with 5:28 remaining in the period, went on a 9-0 run to
lead 84-65 with 3:30 remaining in the quarter. The lead was too much for L.A to come back from as they trailed 73-91 at the end of the third period.
7 straight points by the Spurs to open the final period had them leading 98-73 and for all purposes, the match was over then and there. The Lakers seemed to have no answer for the Spurs offense, which were scoring at will. The
closest they got to the Spurs after that was within 17 points, and were eventually routed 121-97.
Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 21 points and 8 rebounds. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both had 20 points, and dished 17 assists between them. Gary Neal came off the bench to score 12 points for the Spurs.
Kobe led the Lakers scoring with 18 points. Andrew Bynum was made irrelevant in the game by the Spurs, scoring 17 points and grabbing only 2 rebounds. Pau Gasol had 11 points and 8 rebounds while Metta World Peace had only 10 points
for the night.
The Spurs shot an amazing 61% from the field and a season high 10-of-15 from beyond the arc. They were 17 of 18 from the foul line in a near perfect shooting game for them. They outnumbered the Lakers 42-29 in rebounds and 27-19
in assists. The Lakers had 12 more free throw attempts than the Spurs but could not match their field scoring. San Antonio beat the Lakers 22-4 in fast break points and 54-30 in points within the paint.
It was a bad night for L.A who now need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how they were dominated so easily. They need to devise a new game plan with Kobe in the game but which helps players such as Gasol and World
Peace contribute to the team as well. Kobe was rusty for the night as well, but will get better as he plays more games. The Spurs are still in a race with Oklahoma City for the top seed in the West but this win will help improve their chances.
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