Center Victor Wembanyama missed the Lakers game with an injury despite the Spurs victory
The Lakers are eliminated from the NBA Cup quarterfinal.
But despite the loss, forward and future NBA Hall of Famer LeBron James doesn’t want to look ahead to what the defeat implies about the playoffs.
“I can’t think about what we can do in the playoffs in December. What I can say is that the habits that we built throughout the regular season each month, if we are in a position to make it to the postseason and be able to get to that point, well, we have to build it now. But as far as talking about what type of damage we’re gonna do in the postseason in December, that’s not right for the basketball gods, not for me,” James said.
A first-quarter lead the San Antonio Spurs built proved to be insurmountable for the Los Angeles Lakers as the squad fell 132-119 on Wednesday in San Antonio at the Frost Bank Center. The Spurs finished the first up nine, the half up 12, and the third quarter up 17 – with the largest lead culminating at 24 – resulting in the Spurs’ 13-point win.
The San Antonio Spurs’ victory was particularly notable considering the squad was without center Victor Wembanyama, who is averaging 26.2 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game on a 47.3% field goal percentage through 12 games of the 2025-2026 campaign.
In his place, guard and reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle paced the Spurs with 30 points while shooting 10-for-14 from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
Three of the Spurs’ starters garnered double-digits, with backcourt tandem De’Aaron Fox ranking second on the team in points with 20, including knocking down four 3-pointers.
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On the other side of the hardwood, guard Luka Dončić paced the team with 35 points, his ninth straight 30-plus point performance of the season. James followed behind Dončić with 19 points while shooting 50% from the field, continuing to illustrate that he has gas in the tank after a string of struggling performances.
The most notable difference between the two teams came down to contributions from the bench. The Spurs reserves outscored the Lakers 48-31 from the bench, with guard Marcus Smart adding 26 of the Lakers’ 31 from the pine. Smart’s performance marked his first game back from injury, illustrating a key backcourt addition the Lakers have in their reserves.
Meanwhile, the Spurs posted three double-digit scorers from the bench, including Keldon Johnson, Dylan Harper, and Julian Champagnie.
After the defeat, the Lakers will embark on a four-game road trip that will start in Phoenix on Sunday and end again against the Suns on December 23rd.
The Lakers are 17-7 in the NBA’s Western Conference and sit in fourth in the conference, 6.5 games back from the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.