NBA Cup: Spurs stun Lakers at home, punch ticket to Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES, December 12 ------ It was a playoff-level atmosphere at Crypto.com Arena for the NBA Cup quarterfinals, but the San Antonio Spurs — still without Victor Wembanyama — walked in unfazed and walked out with a 132–119 upset win over the Lakers, securing their spot in Las Vegas to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals.

The night started strong for Los Angeles, who jumped out to an 18–12 lead midway through the first behind Luka Dončić’s early rhythm. But the tone of the game flipped fast. San Antonio grabbed control late in the quarter, first taking a 29–26 lead fueled by relentless offensive rebounding, then detonating a 13–4 closing run. By the end of the opening frame, the Spurs led 39–30, powered by 6-of-12 shooting from three and a huge spark from Keldon Johnson’s 13 points off the bench.

The Spurs’ momentum didn’t stop with the quarter break — it exploded. They poured in 8 straight points to open the second, stretching the lead to 47–30 while the Lakers went ice cold. Incredibly, just five minutes earlier, LA had led 26–24 with 2:30 left in the first. From that point, San Antonio unleashed a stunning 23–4 run bridging the quarters.

The Lakers momentarily revived the building with an 8–2 burst that trimmed the deficit to 12 (64–52 with 2:30 left), but San Antonio held firm. The Spurs entered halftime up 70–58, already 10-of-20 from deep and in full control. Any hopes of a Lakers surge vanished early in the third when the Spurs opened with a 10–2 run — highlighted by back-to-back threes from Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle — pushing the lead back to 20, at 80–60. Meanwhile at that point, Austin Reaves continued to be the missing piece for LA. Still stuck at just 4 points, the guard followed his cold performance in Philadelphia (11 pts) with another quiet night, far removed from the 36- and 44-point explosions he posted while Dončić was out. Reaves ended the night with just 15 points on 6 for 16 shooting.

The Lakers made their final push late, grinding the Spurs’ lead all the way down to 8 with under four minutes remaining. But San Antonio had one more answer. Up 122–103 at the 5-minute mark, the Spurs absorbed LA’s last wave before Castle drilled a dagger three to make it 130–116 with 1:36 left, effectively silencing the arena. From there, the Spurs closed it out comfortably.

Lakers coach JJ Reddick defended Reaves’ back-to-back weak games on fatigue “The reality is that the guy has carried us for six weeks, and that takes a toll on you. He’s kept fighting and I appreciate that, but he’s gonna have a lot of more great nights than frustrating nights.” Lebron James, who finished with 19 pts, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists, commented on the difficulty to defend the Spurs. “We need to be five guys on a string, we can’t do it individually. Those guys (Spurs) have 6 or 7 guys who can break you down on a the dribble and it takes a lot to slow them down.”

Doncic led LA with 35 points ant 8 assists, while Marcus Smart fueled the runs off the bench with 26 points on 8-for-14 three-pointers. A hot-shooting, high-energy San Antonio squad walked out of Los Angeles with a statement win, shooting lights-out from deep and controlling the glass from the opening tip. Stephon Castle led the way with 30 points while De ‘Aaron Fox had 20. Filipino-American rookie Dylan Harper had another solid game off the bench with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson commended his boys’ team effort adding that Keldon Johnson, who led the Spurs bench with 17 points, is the heart and soul of the squad. Meanwhile, Johnson teased that Wembanyama just might make it back on the line up for the NBA Cup semifinals. "Very much so. He had a very intense day this morning and we'll have to see how he responds and reacts tomorrow." But without Wembanyama, the Spurs are now 6-2, and they still found a way — and now they’re Vegas-bound to meet the Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com