Five takeaways from the Lakers’ 108-95 loss to the San Antonio Spurs
Lakers forward Kobe Bryant looks to pass after driving to the basket against Spurs forwards Kawhi Leonard, left, and Boris Diaw during a Jan. 22 game at Staples Center.
The Lakers (9-36) lost their fifth straight game, falling to the San Antonio Spurs (38-6) on Friday night.
Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ 108-95 defeat at Staples Center.
1. Reserve guard Manu Ginobili carved up the Lakers, scoring 20 points in 19 minutes, while hitting nine of 10 shots. He converted all of his shots from three-point range, dished four assists with four rebounds, blocked two shots and grabbed five steals.
That’s ridiculous production per minute.
“It’s been awhile, first time in the year,” Ginobili said. “Sometimes it happens — when you start the game, and it goes your way and every shot goes in, that’s it. There’s not much more than that.”
2. D’Angelo Russell finished with a strong line as well, scoring 18 points in 30 minutes. Russell hit eight of 10 shots and dished three assists.
He also had three rookie turnovers.
“Too many turnovers,” Russell said. “You turn the ball over, coaches lose confidence in you. So I just have to keep getting better at that aspect.”
The Spurs are one of the best teams in the league, especially defensively, putting the inexperienced 19-year-old Russell at a disadvantage.
3. Kobe Bryant did not have his best game on the 10-year anniversary of his 81-point performance.
After scoring five points on two-of-nine shooting in 26 1/2 minutes, Bryant left the Lakers bench before the game was over.
“I’m fine. I’ve done that the last few games,” he said. “When I’m done for the night, get a head start on treatment and stuff.”
The Lakers were scheduled to fly out to Portland at 11 p.m. to visit the Trail Blazers on Saturday.
“Talking to him before the game and during the game, he said he felt good,” Coach Byron Scott said. “I told him at halftime that I’d cut his minutes down because this is the last time he’ll go to Portland. I wanted to see if I could get him ready for tomorrow.”
4. Ryan Kelly suffered a dental injury.
“I didn’t get a chance to see him afterward,” Scott said. “I know his tooth got knocked back, so he’s in there now with [trainer] Gary [Vitti]. ... I’ll go and check on him and see how he is.”
Kelly scored seven points in 12 minutes while collecting five rebounds.
With Larry Nance Jr. out because of a sore knee, Julius Randle got the start (finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds) — opening up rotation minutes for Kelly.
5. The Lakers are still in last place in the Western Conference, better only than the Eastern Conference’s last-place Philadelphia 76ers (6-38).
The Lakers are 11 1/2 games behind the eighth-place Kings and four in back of the 13th- and 14th-place Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves, who are both 13-31.
Looking ahead to the 2016 NBA draft lottery, the Lakers would have a 55.8% chance of a top-three pick in June’s draft. If the Lakers fall below third in the lottery, Philadelphia will get the team’s pick as part of the Steve Nash trade, via the Suns.
If the Lakers climb a spot in the standings, their lottery odds for a top-three selection will dip to 46.9%.
Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.
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