National Basketball Association
San Antonio 134, L.A. Lakers 94
When: 8:30 PM ET, Thursday, January 12, 2017
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Officials: #56 Mark Ayotte, #60 James Williams, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance: 18418

SAN ANTONIO -- If it was a lesson in bounce-back basketball Los Angeles was looking for when it traveled to the Alamo City to play San Antonio, the Lakers got their money's worth from the Spurs on Thursday night.

Responding emphatically from a three-point loss at home to Milwaukee on Tuesday, San Antonio took out its frustrations on the unwitting Lakers, ramping up every facet of its game in a runaway 134-94 win over Los Angeles at the AT&T Center.

Kawhi Leonard poured in 31 points in just three quarters of play, and four of San Antonio's starters scored in double figures. The Spurs' point total was a season high, as were the 72 points scored by the San Antonio in the first half and the 40-point margin of victory.

"I respect the way the Spurs played tonight -- granted we didn't put up a ton of fight -- but it's beautiful to see championship teams and the way they came out after one loss," Lakers coach Luke Walton said. "How (that loss) made them play and how sharp they were -- there's a lot to learn from being in this game, from watching them. I didn't think we showed up to meet the challenge."

Pau Gasol added 22 points against his former team for San Antonio, while LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker added 13 each, all in just three quarters of the lopsided game. The Spurs also got 12 points from Jonathon Simmons, 10 from Dejounte Murray and a game-high 12 rebounds from Dewayne Dedmon.

All 13 players who took the floor for San Antonio scored, and the Spurs (31-8) outshot Los Angeles 60.5 percent to 41.2 percent.

"You always want to handle a loss by bouncing back the next night," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Our ball movement was great and everybody, both the first and second team, knew who their shooters were and really were great tonight. I thought we had a good performance."

The Lakers (15-28) were led by Julius Randle's 22 points, but the rest of Los Angeles' starters managed just 20 total points. Reserves Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams added 14 and 10 points, respectively, for the Lakers, who lost to San Antonio for the ninth straight time.

The Spurs hit 14 of their 24 field-goal attempts in the first quarter on the way to a 36-24 lead after 12 minutes. Leonard was 5 of 5 from the floor in the period (including 3 of 3 from 3-point territory) and led all scorers with 14 points while staking San Antonio to a 36-19 lead before he went to the bench. The Lakers took advantage to finish the period on a 5-0 run to cut the San Antonio advantage to 36-24 at quarter's end.

A 7-0 run by Los Angeles capped by a steal and a dunk by Randle cut the Spurs' lead to 45-41 at the 7:04 mark of the second quarter. However, there was no panic from San Antonio, which promptly pushed its advantage back to 49-41 on layups by Parker and Leonard.

The Spurs outscored Los Angeles 23-13 over the rest of the quarter, including three free throws by Leonard after he was fouled by D'Angelo Russell attempting a shot from beyond half court with 0.3 seconds remaining. The result was a 72-54 San Antonio lead at intermission.

"You never want to lose two games in a row," Leonard said. "You always want to come out with a better effort and a better mentality than you had the last game."

San Antonio poured it on in the third quarter, pushing its lead to 106-75 on a Simmons running one-hander to beat the buzzer to end the period. The Spurs were relentless inside -- Gasol had six points in the quarter, including a thumping dunk -- and out, as even Aldridge poured in a 3-pointer.

The Spurs outshot Los Angeles 65 percent to 35 percent in the quarter, with 18 of their 34 points in the period coming in the paint. With the game all but decided, both teams played mostly reserves in the fourth quarter.

"We didn't come ready to play and the Spurs really executed tonight," Randle said. "We can learn from this loss -- how they are focused, how they play, how they cut hard and how they communicate. When San Antonio started buckling down and executing better, we just got a little relaxed and didn't respond."

NOTES: Los Angeles lost the last five season series to San Antonio (0-4 in 2015-16; 1-2 in 2014-15; 1-3 in 2013-14; 1-2 in 2012-13 and 2011-12) and now has dropped the teams' first two meetings this season. ... Spurs C/F Pau Gasol and Lakers G Jose Calderon played for the Spanish national team in the Olympics in 2008, 2012 and 2016, winning two silver medals and one bronze. ... Spurs F Kawhi Leonard was born in Los Angeles and went to Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, Calif. ... The Spurs and Lakers have the two best overall winning percentages in NBA history.
Top Game Performances
 
L.A. Lakers   San Antonio
Julius Randle 22 Scoring Kawhi Leonard 31
Julius Randle 5 Assists Pau Gasol 6
Julius Randle 6 Rebounds Dewayne Dedmon 12
Julius Randle 6 Free Throws Made Kawhi Leonard 8
Ivica Zubac 2 Steals Kawhi Leonard 2
Brandon Ingram 1 Blocks Dewayne Dedmon 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
L.A. Lakers 94 41.2 6-20 18-25 23 29 3 6 9
San Antonio 134 60.5 10-21 26-29 32 46 5 5 12
Upcoming Games
  • San Antonio will play their next game on the road against Phoenix. The Spurs have a W/L % of .774 after a win and .875 after a loss.
  • L.A. Lakers will play their next game on the road against LA Clippers. The Lakers have a W/L % of .267 after a win and .393 after a loss.