The San Antonio Spurs gave up a 21-10 run to the Los Angeles Lakers in the fourth quarter as they squandered a lead and lost to the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena. Justin Champagnie missed a pair of free throws at the end of regulation which could have tied the game and sent it to overtime.
The San Antonio Spurs did not get the finish they were looking for Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. As such, the Spurs lost 118-116 to the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena.
Down by two, with 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation, Justin Champagnie drew a foul from Jake LaRavia while trying to tip in the Spurs' inbound pass, but Champagnie missed his first free throw. He hurled up the second one looking for a tip in and no one could put it in before the final buzzer went off.
Luka Doncic scored 35 points, had 13 assists and nine rebounds for the Lakers. He also added five steals. Doncic did not shoot exceptionally well as he shot 9-of-27 from the field, but had his way on the glass and seemed to always find the open man for a high-percentage shot.
Deandre Ayton scored 22 points and had 10 assists for Los Angeles and played tenacious defense. His rebounding paved the way for Doncic to score eight points down the stretch and secure the victory for Los Angeles.
For San Antonio, center Victor Wembanyama got into foul trouble early and spent most of the second and fourth quarters on the bench. He finished the game with 19 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 1:39 to play.
Stephon Castle and Jeremy Sochan each added 16 points for the Spurs, who have lost their last two games.
It did not help the Spurs going down the stretch as Harrison Barnes and Sochan fouled out as well. They fouled out a few sequences after Doncic drilled his fourth three-point field goal to give the Lakers a 113-112 lead.
The Spurs held a 106-97 lead with just over seven minutes to play, but their shooting went cold as they were left without a field goal for almost five minutes.
San Antonio could not win the game despite the Lakers playing without LeBron James, Gabe Vincent and Austin Reaves.
Spurs rookie Dylan Harper missed his first game due to injury.