LOS ANGELES — The Lakers’ chances of another trip to Las Vegas – and a shot at winning the NBA Cup’s ultimate prize of $530,000-plus per player – passed by them almost as quickly as the San Antonio Spurs’ variety of speedsters did on Wednesday night.
Even with Spurs star big man Victor Wembanyama sidelined for the 12th consecutive game because of a calf strain, the Lakers had no answers for San Antonio’s speed advantage.
The Spurs broke down and got into the teeth of the Lakers’ defense at Crypto.com Arena, built a comfortable lead behind strong 3-point shooting and handed the hosts a 132-119 defeat to knock them out of the in-season tournament in the quarterfinals despite Luka Doncic recording 35 points, eight assists and five rebounds and leading a late-game comeback attempt.
“A lot of things that stood out,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Being able to contain the basketball is probably the most difficult thing for our team right now.”
Wednesday was the Lakers’ first loss in NBA Cup play after they went undefeated (4-0) during the Group Play portion.
The Lakers next face the Phoenix Suns, who lost their quarterfinal matchup to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, on Sunday night in Arizona.
The Spurs will square off with the Thunder in the Western Conference Cup semifinal on Saturday in Las Vegas, while the Orlando Magic will meet the New York Knicks in the East semifinal, also in Las Vegas.
The Lakers (17-7) kept up with the Spurs’ pace early, leading by as many as six midway through the first quarter via a ball screen-heavy offense and sturdy paint defense.
But once the Spurs (17-7) took advantage of their speed, and got out in the open court, the Lakers couldn’t keep up.
“Very few teams don’t have something that you can expose,” Redick said, “and we typically consistently [get] exposed to the same things.”
Whether it was Stephon Castle (30 points, 10 rebounds, six assists) or De’Aaron Fox (20 points, four rebounds, three assists) leading the way, the Spurs consistently put pressure on the Lakers’ defense with their perimeter speed – an issue that has plagued them in their losses.
“I mean, they were just going downhill, driving and kick,” Doncic said. “They scored like 10 3-pointers in the first half. They got up [really] quickly.”
San Antonio outscored the Lakers 15-4 in the final 2½ minutes of the first quarter to grab a 39-30 lead going into the second.
San Antonio opened an 18-point lead in the second quarter, with Castle and Harrison Barnes exploiting the Lakers’ season-long struggles in perimeter shooting defense.
“Obviously, you can’t do it individually by yourself,” forward LeBron James said of how the Lakers’ perimeter defense can improve. “It has to be five guys on a string. Communication, always at an all-time high, letting you know what’s going on behind you and things of that nature.”
James added: “It’s a unique team. They got six or seven guys that can break you down off the dribble. Super fast, super quick. Some of them are stronger, some of them are faster, some of [them] are quicker ball-handlers. Unique team and they definitely got the best of us.”
The Spurs, who held a 70-58 lead at halftime, led by as many as 24 (114-90) early in the fourth quarter behind their strong 3-point shooting. San Antonio shot 17 for 38 from behind the arc, in addition to 29 for 36 from the free-throw line – with the latter being an advantage the Lakers usually have.
“We have to be a group that guards with five people,” guard Austin Reaves said. “We got to be on a string and know rotations and just play hard on that end.”
Late shot-making from Marcus Smart (season-high 26 points, eight 3-pointers) and a small-ball lineup helped the Lakers trim their deficit to 122-114 in the final minutes, but that was the closest they got.
“This team does a really good job when it comes to the open court, in transition, and they got one of the fastest players in the league with Fox,” Smart said. “We just didn’t do a good job of getting back and communicating with one another. We’ve got to fix that. That’s going to be key for us. When we can get people in the halfcourt, set our defense, it makes it easier. When we got to get out and run and chase from behind, it makes it a lot harder.”
A Castle 3-pointer with 1:41 left gave the Spurs a 130-116 lead and essentially ended the Lakers’ comeback bid.
James recorded 19 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, but Reaves again struggled with his shot, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists but shooting 6 for 16 from the field.
“The reality is the guy carried us for six weeks and, that takes a toll on you,” Redick said of Reaves. “And he kept fighting, and I appreciate that. But he’s gonna have a lot more great nights than frustrating nights.”
Keldon Johnson added 17 points and eight rebounds for San Antonio. Eight Spurs scored at least eight points, and their bench outscored the Lakers’ reserves 48-31.