Spurs exchange wins with Lakers, split season series.

The Lakers and Spurs go 2-2 this season.

Touching down in Los Angeles, the Spurs fell short in Tinseltown after failing to make some good opportunity shots in crunch time. Both teams shot 50%, with San Antone not able to recover fully after a 29-20 first quarter, especially once the Lakers took the 2nd Quarter 31-22. To their credit, the Spurs fought back to win the 3rd Quarter 36-32, but the Lakers never began to struggle to score, winning 105-124 as the Spurs made only five 3PTers.

Kawhi Leonard tormented his old team with 6 steals, 6 assists, 6 rebounds and 25 points, going 11/20. Lonzo Ball dropped 24 points with 6 assists, 1 steal & 1 block. LeBron James had just 16 points, but nabbed 4 steals. Kyle Kuzma had 12 points and JaVale McGee had 10 points with 6 rebounds.

For the Spurs, newly acquired big-man project Dragan Bender impressed with 21 points, swatting 4 blocks with 1 steal on 7/7 shooting, including a 3PTer in transition. Brandon Ingram went 7/17, but managed 17 points with 2 blocks, despite 1/9 from long range territory. T.J. Warren also had 17 with 2 steals and 4 blocks, but missed all five chances from deep. Dejounte Murray had 13 points with 6 assists to go with 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Iman Shumpert scored 8, as did Patty mills, and Avery Bradley had 6. The Spurs committed 17 turnovers, a high outlier from the norm, dooming themselves.

The Spurs have only one loss at home, a league's best 11-1.

Returning home to the AT&T Center paid dividends for the Spurs, who came out fresh and empowered by the home crowd. It was not to last, however, and Coach Popovich defiantly criticized the referees at his post-game press conference, thankful his team was able to pull out a 10-PT victory, 119-129 but not happy about the 41 free throws given to the Lakers overall, an early catalyst that put the Spurs down 34-30 after one quarter.

The defending champions fired back with their full arsenal to win the scoring bracket in the next three quarters (30-26; 28-22; 41-37), shooting 51% and making 14 shots from long range. Before long, the Spurs got to the free throw line, making sixteen easy points. It was not easy in the first half, though, as Dragan Bender fouled out after delightfully surprising the team with a solid contribution of 12 points and 4 blocks.

LeBron James heated up by the end with 27 points, as the Lakers clawed back within six points late. Lonzo Ball had 22 points, but just 4 assists; Rajon Rondo had 16 points. Leonard only had 15 this time, but McGee commanded 14 rebounds for 10 points. Kuzma scored ten.

The victory went over nicely for the home crowd, led by Brandon Ingram's 22 points (9/15) and 4 blocks--the best one on Kawhi in the fourth quarter. T.J. Warren had 19 points (8/12, 2/2 3PT) with 2 steals. Iman Shumpert lit up the Lakers in the first half with 12 points, finishing with 18 on 5 three-pointers. Dejounte Murray scored 17 points with 6 assists (7/12) with 1 steal & 1 block. J.R. Smith also scored 11 points, hitting a nice 3PTer over former Cavaliers teammate LeBron James. Omri Casspi has struggled since arriving in San Antonio, but scored six points tonight; Avery Bradley scored 7.