Just one day after losing by two points to the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers continued a quick road trip in Texas with a game against the San Antonio Spurs.
It was a matchup between No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 French phenom, and the top pick in the 2012 draft, Anthony Davis. The two went at each other, and Wembanyama, after a somewhat slow start, got hot and put up some big numbers.
The Lakers were without LeBron James, who sat for precautionary reasons. Still, they built a sizable lead in the first two quarters and were ahead 63-50 at halftime. They led by as many as 20 points and were up 92-74 after three quarters, and they seemed to be on their way to an easy win.
But the Spurs administered a furious rally in the late minutes of the game and scored 45 points during the final quarter. Losers of their previous 17 games, they came to within one point with just over 20 seconds left and seemed poised to steal this contest. But behind Davis, L.A. held on for a 122-119 victory to improve to 15-10 on the season.
Wembanyama finished with an efficient 30 points, 13 rebounds, six blocked shots and three steals. He had 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, and he arguably outplayed Davis. However, the rookie missed one of two free throws with just over 20 seconds remaining in the game with an opportunity to tie the score.
These two teams will face off again in San Antonio on Friday.
Anthony Davis: A
With James out, Davis needed to step up and lead the way, and that’s exactly what he did.
He rolled his ankle very early in the game and appeared to have suffered a significant injury. But he got up and appeared to be OK, and he continued to play. He played very well, scoring 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting in the first half, which included a thunderous dunk over Wembanyama.
Interestingly, he was quiet in the third quarter and didn’t score in the period until there was 2:04 remaining. But he delivered down the stretch with 11 points in the fourth quarter.
With just over a minute left and the Lakers clinging to a 115-110 lead amid San Antonio’s frantic run, Davis stole the ball in the backcourt and converted a dunk for insurance. He made four free throws in the final seconds to ensure victory.
Overall, he had 37 points on 13-of-23 shooting, 10 rebounds and four steals. He even hit two 3-pointers, which was a rarity for him, as he has been shooting such shots very sparingly this season.
Taurean Prince: A
Prince continued his excellent play of late by going 6-of-12 overall and 4-of-10 from 3-point range to score 17 points. He also added five rebounds, five assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
He came into this game shooting 38.6% from downtown on the season, which was a major improvement over where he was just a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps he’s on track to accomplishing his goal of shooting 40% from that distance for the entire year.
Cam Reddish: A
Reddish continues to make a noticeable impact on the defensive end with his ball pressure. He had three steals, two of which he turned into breakaway layups, and the other one led to a fast-break layup by D’Angelo Russell off a pass from him.
The forward also went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and finished with 10 points, three assists and two rebounds in 24 minutes.
D'Angelo Russell: B-plus
Russell showed his value to the Lakers on Wednesday. He didn’t have a great offensive performance; he scored just 12 points and missed all four of his 3-point attempts. However, he dished 10 assists and committed three turnovers. His facilitating and ball-handling were invaluable given the fact that James didn’t play.
The guard also had three steals and three rebounds to help L.A.’s cause.
Rui Hachimura: B-plus/A-minus
Hachimura started in place of James. He came out hot and was a major reason the Lakers had a solid start. He shot 5-of-7 in the first half and ended up with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting plus seven rebounds, one assist and one block in 24 minutes.
This was the most aggressive the forward has looked offensively in some time, and it resulted in his highest-scoring game in about a month. This is the type of aggression the team needs from him, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench.
Austin Reaves: A
Reaves continued his strong play in December. The undrafted guard played 29 minutes and scored 15 points on 6-of-10 field-goal shooting and 3-of-6 from downtown while dishing off eight assists and committing only one turnover.
He nailed a shot from beyond midcourt at the end of the third quarter, but he released it a fraction of a second too late, so it didn’t count.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B-minus
Overall, this was a quiet game for Vanderbilt, who missed Tuesday’s contest with a back ailment. Upon entering the game, he quickly got a steal that he converted into a fast-break layup, but that was his only made basket of the night.
In 14 minutes, Vanderbilt contributed three rebounds and a blocked shot to go along with that steal and basket in transition.
Christian Wood: B-plus
Wood has struggled offensively this season, and he has seemingly fallen out of head coach Darvin Ham’s rotation. But with James out on Wednesday, he got onto the court for 21 minutes and scored nine points on 4-of-7 shooting while grabbing six rebounds and adding one assist.
Max Christie: B-minus
In 14 minutes, Christie shot 1-of-5, but he helped out with five rebounds and two assists.
Jaxson Hayes: B
Hayes made a cameo in seven minutes with four points and one rebound.
