Lonzo Ball came up big in the clutch, finishing with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists to rally the Lakers past the Spurs for their fifth win in a row and achieve their 4-game road sweep in a 116-112 victory. Julius Randle earned another 20+ point performance with 25 points to go with 6 rebounds. KCP added a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds to go with 3 steals, Brook Lopez added 14 points, and Kyle Kuzma chipped in 11 points to round out the starters. I.T. carried a big load to lead a shorthanded 2nd unit, scoring 21 points and dishing 7 dimes off the bench.
Final Score: @ San Antonio 116-112 [W]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20180303/LALSAS#/recap
Next Game: vs. Portland (03/05)
Highlights: *Courtesy of Rapid Highlights*
Un-Be-Lieveable. Based on how this game went early on, it looked like this game was the Lakers to lose. They were ice cold and sloppy right out of the gate with a couple of careless turnovers to start. They couldn't buy a bucket. The only offense the Lakers were getting was to feed it to Randle inside and get him to free throw line. The Spurs played at the pace they wanted for the majority of the game: slow, half-court tempo and moving the ball around for a high percentage shot. As big of a deficit the Lakers had, they found ways to recover and get back into the game. That has been the main theme throughout the season: the Lakers face adversity, they compete harder and narrow down the lead. The way they handled the slow start looked routine to them. And this is against a short-handed, but great Spurs team offensively and defensively. This game, I.T. got the engine going for the offense off the bench. Brook Lopez woke up and contributed some timely buckets. Travis Wear, unsung player of the game, with 7 points off the bench. He made under-the-radar contributions to the Lakers' monster scoring run down the stretch. In fact, one of his buckets cut the San Antonio lead to 98-103. KCP crashed the boards and also helped ignited the Lakers' scoring run. He was also clutch on the defensive end with a steal to set up Lonzo to Randle to put the Lakers up 114-109. Speaking of Lonzo, he has arrived his game. No Brandon Ingram to take over and play the closer, Lonzo Ball came up big in the clutch. I'm talking about clutch 3-pointers down the stretch. The first three, he made it a one point game. The 2nd three, it put the Lakers up 109-107. The 3rd three was nothing but net and it put the Lakers up 112-109. Zo took over the game when needed. Like I said time and time again throughout this season, his shot will fall eventually. He just needed to be assertive and confident with it. Since his return from, we're seeing a more confident Ball, no pun intended. Some will say he's still a bust, but let them talk. They said the same thing about Ingram last year. You just can't judge a player based on his rookie year. This game, we saw the true arrival of the product we saw from UCLA last year and it couldn't have come at a better time. There are too many signature wins to keep track of from this young Lakers' team. But this one looks like the cream of the crop considering the odds against the Lakers' favor. They're finding ways to win. It's truly a turning point for this team to get a 5-game winning streak and sweeping a 4-game road trip, especially since the last two games are against playoff-contending teams that play solid defense.
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