Back-to-back against San Antonio. Back-to-back road games. This was going to be a tough stretch for the Lakers. The Spurs had a tough stretch. But so far, they had the Lakers' number right out of the gate this season with a couple of close wins. Meanwhile, Memphis has surprised some people, but they've showed signs of slowing down during this stretch. Let's see how the Lakers measured up. This is you Lakers' Weekly Roundup.
12/05: vs. San Antonio 113-121 [W] (15-9)
Finally, the Lakers had a game go their way against San Antonio. Despite the Spurs being in a complete slump with a blowout loss against the Jazz, they made this game a lot more competitive as it should be. You'd think the Lakers would take advantage of that. They did not as the Spurs gave them a run for their money. Not to mention, the Lakers lose Brandon Ingram early with an ankle injury. It looked like the Spurs were going to run away with this game. But, LeBron would not lose to the Spurs for a third consecutive time as he lead the way with a 42-point game. The way the Spurs were fighting back, it was obvious that LeBron needed a little more help. And he got it as Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball, and Kyle Kuzma traded clutch shots to help their King. Zo, in particular, stopped being a pantsy and shot the wide open shots he could take instead of passing it up. Josh Hart didn't have an eye-opening game. Majority because he was foul trouble. But he made the shots down the stretch to help seal the game. With that, the Lakers sweep their 4-game home stand and finally get a win against the San Antonio White Walkers.
12/07: @ San Antonio 120-133 [L] (15-10)
The Lakers just won against the same Spurs team at home. Figures, they gotta exploit that and win against them on the road. The Lakers built a big lead in the 2nd quarter. Pretty good start. Not bad. But they wouldn't hold on to that as the Spurs drew a lot of fouls to cap off their big run. The Lakers built a lead in the 3rd quarter. It's close out time. LeBron's coming back in the game. That should do it. Wait a minute San Antonio's making a run? DeMar DeRozan is not even on the floor? Who's carrying them? Of course it's their bench. If there's anything that's constant from the Spurs that makes them an unselfish team, it's their deep bench. Jakob Peoltl dominated inside the paint. Davis Bertans was lights out from deep. Patty Mills put up buckets and facilitated the ball movement without DeRozan on the floor. The Spurs' bench put up 52 combined points compared to the Lakers' 26. That's the difference maker right there. Didn't help that the referees were helping the Spurs get to the free throw line with some phantom calls. It's always that way whenever the Lakers go to San Antonio.
12/08: @ Memphis 111-88 [W] (16-10)
It felt like eons ago that the Memphis Grizzlies were at one point the top seed in the West. They put up some convincing wins in the last two games against the Clippers and the Pelicans. The Lakers are coming off a tough back-to-back loss against the Spurs. This is Memphis' chance to kick them while they're down. *Final Score* That escalated quickly. The Lakers made quick disposal of the Grizzlies. with a balanced team effort. It wasn't just LeBron James doing all the work. Kyle Kuzma racked the same amount points as LeBron did with 20 points. Josh Hart finally got back to scoring double-digit points while KCP and Svi carried the bench with 16 points from KCP and 11 points from Svi. The Lakers never looked back at this one. On a side note, it was funny the way the Grizzlies commentators were pronouncing Svi's last name. Pronounced it like MICK-HAY-LUKE instead of ME-KAI-LUKE.
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