Fourth quarter surge lifts Spurs past Lakers

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SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs know how important this upcoming six-game homestand is and they showed they are up for the challenge on Friday night.

A fourth-quarter surge lifted the Spurs to a 133-120 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers (15-10) at the AT&T Center on Friday night, kicking off their six-game homestand. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for San Antonio.

“We did a good job keeping our heads and showing a lot of grit,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “That group was playing well so we left them out there. It was wonderful.”

Here is what went good and bad for the Spurs, as well as three standout players: DeMar DeRozan, Davis Bertans, and Jakob Poeltl.

The Good:
  • Jakob Poeltl continues to show how he has grown and made solid contributions off the bench.
  • Davis Bertans and Poeltl combined for 27 points off the bench. Overall, San Antonio’s bench outscored LA’s 52-26.
  • The Spurs were hot from three-point land, going 13-for-31.
  • San Antonio had their big fourth quarter surge without LaMarcus Aldridge playing a single minute in the fourth quarter. The Spurs improved to 2-12 when LMA fails to score 20 points or more in a game.
  • The Spurs won the season series with the Lakers 3-1.
The Bad:
  • San Antonio started off slow on both ends of the floor, going down 15 points in the second quarter.
Three Standout Players:

DeMar DeRozan:

The guard from Compton loves playing against his hometown team, the numbers prove it. And Friday night saw him continue that trend as he led the Spurs to victory.

DeRozan finished with 36 points and nine assists, making him the first player since Moses Malone to score 30-plus points against the Lakers in four straight meetings. He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as he helped lead San Antonio to the come from behind win.

“We’ve been faced with a lot of adversity as of late,” DeRozan said. “To come back after being down so late in the game shows what we are capable of. Our whole mindset is to end the year as best as we can.”

Project Spurs illustration/Associated Press

Davis Bertans:

San Antonio’s bench was key in Friday’s victory over the Lakers and Bertans was a major part in making that happen.

He finished with 13 points off the bench, going 4-for-7 from three-point range. He had two of his fourth treys in the final quarter of play as the Spurs went on to score 44 points in the fourth quarter.

Jakob Poeltl:

The Spurs big man has gotten flack from fans for not being “athletic” enough or saying he has no real place on the team. But Friday night showed exactly why RC Buford wanted him included in the deal for Kawhi Leonard.

Poeltl finished the game with 14 points and eight rebounds just a few days after scoring a career-high 20 in a loss to the Jazz.

“Tonight was one of those nights where everything just clicked,” Poeltl said. “The second unit has so much fun out there and I just found my spots.”

UP NEXT:

The Spurs are now 12-14 on the season and will return to the court on Sunday night when they welcome the Utah Jazz (13-13) to the AT&T Center at 6 pm Central Time.

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