By the Associated Press
The Spurs were struggling to contain LeBron James in the fourth quarter and DeMar DeRozan knew firsthand San Antonio’s best chance against King James is to hope he misses.
Keep hoping.
James had 33 points and 13 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers won in San Antonio for the second time this season with a 114-104 victory Monday night.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket over San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, in San Antonio, Monday, Nov. 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
“Bron carried us tonight, hit big shot after big shot,” Lakers forward Anthony Davis said.
Showered with “MVP! MVP!” chants by a large contingent of Lakers fans at the AT&T Center, James put on a vintage performance against the Spurs. He had 12 points in the fourth quarter on 4-for-8 shooting along with five assists.
James was surprised by the cheers given he was the recipient of thunderous boos when he played against the Spurs in the 2013 and 2014 NBA Finals with Miami.
“I’m very appreciative because I’ve definitely gotten a lot of boos in this building in my career, playing a lot of finals games in this building,” James said. “To be able to have that support and they respect the way I play the game and they love the Lakers, it’s just a very humbling moment.”
Lakers fans had a lot to cheer this season in San Antonio.
The Lakers (15-2) have one game remaining against the Spurs on Feb. 4 in Los Angeles but have already won the three-game series against their longtime rivals in the Western Conference.
Davis added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers in his final game before returning to New Orleans on Wednesday.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and DeRozan added 22 for the Spurs. San Antonio fell to 6-12 after its 11th loss in 13 games.
Aldridge started the game 3 for 4, including his 10th 3-pointer of the season, while primarily being defended by James. It was one of the few times the Spurs got the best of James.
DeRozan competed for nine seasons with Toronto against James when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Heat. DeRozan never got past James to reach the NBA Finals during his tenure with the Raptors.
“It’s tough, LeBron is LeBron for a reason,” DeRozan said. “He’s been doing it for 17 years. I faced him a lot throughout my career. You just try to throw different looks at him, but a guy like that has seen every look, every combination of rotations. You’ve just got to make it difficult and hope he misses.”
James finished 13 for 24 from the field and 4 for 7 on 3-pointers in 35 minutes.
Trey Lyles blocked Davis’ short jumper in the paint with 20 seconds left in the first half. Dejounte Murray collected the block and sprinted downcourt for a layup but James ran down the Spurs’ speedy point guard and blocked his attempt from behind. The play was reminiscent of James’ block of Golden State’s Andre Iguodala with less than 2 minutes remaining in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, which the Cleveland Cavaliers won.
James hit consecutive step-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that produced a 93-85 lead and followed it up with a drive and alley-oop pass to JaVale McGee for his 10th assist of the evening.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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