The Los Angeles Lakers got blown out in their second game after the All-Star break, this time a 119-98 drubbing to the San Antonio Spurs.
On a night that the Lakers honored Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers got down early by committing too many turnovers, and never really had a chance to compete with the Spurs.
Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 22 points, Jordan Clarkson added 19. D’Angelo Russell had 18 points.
The Highs
Russell’s aggressiveness: He scored 29 points on 26 shots in the loss to the Thunder on Friday, and Russell continued looking to score against the Spurs. If Russell is to become the go-to guy in the future, the team will need more efforts like this. He’ll have to find a balance with setting up his teammates, but right now, we like what he’s doing.
Brandon Ingram’s career high: Ingram scored a career-high 22 points and shot 10 of 15 from the field against the Spurs on Sunday. At times this season, he’s struggled mightily with shooting the ball, and I personally think he could use a little tweak in his mechanics. But against the Spurs, Ingram continually got high-percentage shots and was able to knock them down. He’s shown flashes of how good he can be, and Sunday was certainly a step in the right direction.
Tyler Ennis: In his Lakers debut, Ennis scored five points on 2-of-3 shooting and also picked up two assists in eight minutes of play. It was a good first outing for Ennis, who showed that he is already a good floor general and makes good decisions when he gets playing time. He could be a serviceable rotation player for the rest of the season if coach Luke Walton finds him some minutes.
The Lows
Turnovers: The Lakers committed 19 turnovers, and the Spurs scored 27 points off of those mistakes. That disparity was the difference in the game. The Spurs only committed 12.
Free-throw and 3-point shooting: The Lakers went to the line 18 times, but only made 11, leading to a measly 61.1 percent on the night. Shooting from beyond the arc was even worse, as the Lakers only made 7 of 22 (31.8 percent). Los Angeles has to be better in both these categories if it wants to win some games down the stretch of the season.
Sharing the ball: It’s a little unfair to compare assist numbers to a well-oiled machine like the Spurs, but games like this are when those stats jump out at you. The Lakers only had 17 assists on 40 made field goals, while the Spurs had 37 assists to their 49 makes. Since the Lakers don’t have a superstar to eat up all the team’s usage, ball movement is paramount. The Lakers could make it a point to emphasize ball movement in an effort to create a habit down the stretch, but assists are something next year’s team will have to improve dramatically.
Next: Jose Calderon headed to a contender
But what did you guys think? Did the Lakers play well despite this loss? Do you think Brandon Ingram going to score 20 points regularly for the rest of the season? Let us know in the comments below!