San Antonio vs. Los Angeles, Final Score: Spurs stun Lakers with a 73-40 second half to win 126-102

Yesterday at 01:16 AM

Devin Vassell's shooting energized San Antonio and his teammates followed suit to secure a very encouraging triumph tonight in Los Angeles.

San Antonio, behind veterans Harrison Barnes (17 points and 4 rebounds) and Chris Paul (13 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals), amassed an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter, and held on for a comfortable 126-102 victory. Paul's laser pass to an awaiting Vassell in the left corner resulted in a three that put the game away and cemented a great bounce-back win on the road for the Spurs.

In what was supposed to be a two-game mini-series between Los Angeles and San Antonio, the Spurs claimed the only one that took place with one of its best second-half efforts of the season. Superstars Anthony Davis (who started 8-for-9 from the field) and LeBron James (who started 4-for-5) shot lights out to keep the visitors at bay for 2+ periods. However, San Antonio's 37-13 fourth quarter helped push them back to .500, and they capitalized on 18 LA turnovers to get 25 opportunistic points.

Devin Vassell (23 points and 2 steals) snapped out of a shooting funk and all five starters tonight hit double-digits and, more importantly, offset the huge production from the Lakers' superstars. Rookie Stephon Castle (23 points and 2 steals) carried San Antonio for a good part of the third before the veterans took over in the closeout quarter. The starters' output (99) nearly matched the Lakers' total (102) for the night.

Davis (30 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 steals) and James (18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists) mightily did the bulk of the damage in the first half. Austin Reaves (12 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists) filled in as the third contributor before San Antonio's 73-40 second-half destruction.

Observations

• I'm really proud of our own Hector Banana-Bread!
• That opening-minute bunny will be the easiest shot Castle gets all season.
• Sequence of the Game #1: Minutes into the opening action, Harrison Barnes took his time in transition, and when he sucked in a Lakers defender towards him, he softly tossed a lob to Wembanyama.
• Sequence of the Game #2: Late in the third quarter, Tre Jones secured a steal and fed Keldon Johnson - who found Vassell in the corner, and the guard dumped it to a trailing Wembanyama for a two-handed slam.
• Sequence of the Game #3: As part of a 10-0 run late in the third, Vassell stole the ball, and Julian Champagnie followed a Wembanyama miss to get a lay-up.
• Keldon's Kitchen: In the early moments of the fourth, the bruising forward uncorked a nifty pocket-bounce pass to Charles Bassey for a nice lay-up. I didn't know he still had that in his arsenal!
• Victor Ease: It seemed like Wembanyama was working on a lay-up package in the lane during this trip. He stunned Reaves with a twist and a finger roll in the lane partway into the second.
• Paul ran up his free throw percentage to a stunning 57-of-58 (98.3%) for the season!
• In respect to his jersey retirement ceremony, Michael Cooper was the original 3-and-D wing in the 1980s.
• Barnes pulled down an offensive rebound amidst a thicket of Lakers late in the opening half. The hustle is always there. In some tenuous minutes in the fourth, Barnes reprised his role on the 2013 Warriors (trying to exploit Tony Parker) - planting himself in the post to get hard-earned points.
• Charles Bassey tries very hard. It gets good results part of the time, and it gets strange results the rest of the time. His motor is unmistakable.

Game Rundown

The sluggish Spurs ceded a lay-up and open three to Reaves, and LA went up a touchdown. Unlike the Vikings, Vassell answered with a handful of points, and Wembanyama chipped in the next six to help San Antonio quickly catch up. Castle made up for a few goofy plays by converting a tough reverse lay-up to put the Spurs up one. Davis had an easy time putting up a flurry of points and made Wembanyama work on the defensive end. As soon as he came in, Johnson attacked the basket for two quick buckets. The only way the Spurs could stop Davis was to lure him into two cheap fouls. In an opening stanza with few stoppages, San Antonio left it up 28-26.

James and Wembanyama matched threes at the start of the second. Castle paired an impressive driving dunk with a sound lay-up deep on the right block. Los Angeles started to pull away midway through the frame - doing most of the damage from behind the arc. Davis picked up his third foul going over Wembanyama's back, but Dalton Knecht's steal and and-1 put San Antonio down 11. Jones sparked a 5-0 run with a floater and fed Vassell for a wing three. The Spurs went into the half lucky to be down nine.

After an extended break due to Cooper's jersey retirement, Vassell and Wembanyama played a nice two-man game to get the first two scores for San Antonio. Castle's corner three brought the Spurs within two momentarily, and he kept the team afloat over several critical minutes with score after score after score. Davis continued to work over whoever was in between him and the basket. Despite Castle's wreckage, Max Christie's three put San Antonio down ten. Three straight impressive dunks by Wembanyama (alley-oop and breakaway) and Vassell (over Davis) as part of a closing 15-5 run - punctuated by a Johnson three - allowed the Spurs to go to the fourth even with Los Angeles. This set the tone for that dominant closeout by San Antonio for the important win.

For the Lakers fan's perspective, please visit Silver Screen and Roll.

San Antonio returns home for a two-game series with Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM CDT.