Davis and James power the Lakers past Wembanyama and the Spurs 119-101

On By Littum

Anthony Davis had 19 points and 14 rebounds, LeBron James finished with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs 119-101 on Wednesday night.

Rookie Dalton Knecht had 20 points on 4-for-10 shooting from long range as the Lakers snapped a three-game skid.

Victor Wembanyama had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Spurs ended their four-game winning streak. Harrison Barnes added 19 points and Julian Champagnie scored 18.

Los Angeles led by as many as 15 points in the first half before San Antonio cut the deficit to eight points. Los Angeles’ Austin Reaves stopped the rally by hitting a 3-pointer over Wembanyama as time expired in the first half, giving the Lakers a 58-47 lead.

San Antonio guard Devin Vassell had 14 points in his return from five games with a bruised left knee.

Takeaways

Lakers: James shot 2 for 9 and scored four points in the first half. He had 12 points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter, while shooting 4-for-5.

Spurs: Vassell is the first player in Spurs history to make 450 3-pointers in his first 250 career games.

Key moment

After the Spurs cut the deficit to four points, Knecht threw a floater into the lane, stole a pass from Wembanyama and fired the ball down the court to Davis for an uncontested dunk that put the Lakers up 73-63.

Key state

The Spurs had won 14 of 18 third quarters this season. The Lakers outscored San Antonio 34-30 to extend their lead to 92-77 entering the fourth.

Next

The Lakers host Oklahoma City on Friday in the NBA Cup. The Spurs are in Sacramento on Sunday.