Tony Parker scored 24 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs past the Los Angeles Lakers 108-105.
Manu Ginobili added 19 points, while Tiago Splitter and Stephen Jackson had 14 points apiece. Gary Neal finished with 12 points against the Lakers.
The Lakers were out-rebounded by the Spurs 40-48. San Antonio hit 12 three-pointers, while Los Angeles had only eight.
For the Lakers, the top scorer Kobe Bryant added 27 points and five assists, Metta World Peace had 23 points, eight rebounds and seven steals and Earl Clark finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Bryant made 10 out of 24 attempts from the floor, but could not avoid his team's fifth straight loss.
"We lost five in a row," Bryant said. "It's pretty self-explanatory."
The Spurs outscored the Lakers 24-17 in the first quarter. The second quarter saw them extending their lead to 54-45.
In the closely fought third quarter San Antonio had 31 points, while the Lakers added 30.
The Lakers were trailing by 10 points, when they entered the fourth quarter. Bryant hit a 3-pointer to cut the Spurs lead to 105-99 with 3:32 left in the final quarter.
Los Angeles players did their best to avoid another defeat. Antawn Jamison further reduced the gap to 105-102 with the help of a layup.
Ginobili's 3-pointer gave the Spurs a six-point lead, but Clark's shot from beyond the 3-point arc again brought the Lakers closer to the Spurs 105-108.
Soon Bryant had an opportunity to make a three-pointer to tie the scores, but he missed the shot and the Lakers lost the game by three points. It was the Spurs' 11th consecutive victory at home.
"I'm proud of their effort," Lakers head coach Mike D'Anotni said. "They fought. They fought last night against Houston. You can see the team getting some traction, but we're a long ways away from a smile."
The Lakers dominated the last few minutes of the game and did not allow the Spurs to shoot freely. As a result San Antonio missed five shots in the last 5 minutes which saw their lead reduced from 10 points to just three at the end of the game.
"We kind of stopped," Ginobili said. "We need rhythm this year. We are getting used to playing faster and we just didn't do it.
"We were playing one-on-one instead of doing what we do best and that's to penetrate, kick and pass the ball."
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
