EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 121-107, Wednesday in San Antonio. Here are three takeaways from the game:
1. Big day for LeBron James.
First, he turned 36 years old Wednesday, a noteworthy milestone for a legendary player whose ability hasn’t tailed off in his 18th NBA season.
Then James became the first player ever to score at least 10 points in 1,000 straight games. He long ago blew past Michael Jordan’s mark of 866 consecutive games in double-digit scoring.
James’ streak began in January 2007, one game after he scored only eight points against the Milwaukee Bucks. He was 23 at the time.
James was solid throughout Wednesday’s game, finishing with 26 points and a double-clutch fastbreak dunk to give the Lakers a 116-104 lead with two minutes left. He also had eight assists.
2. The Lakers’ bench rebounded after a subpar effort two days earlier against Portland.
Wesley Matthews led the way with 18 points in a highly unusual way. He took six three-point shots. He made six three-point shots. Those were his only attempts of the night.
It was the veteran’s biggest outburst since joining the Lakers. He totaled only eight points in his first four games with them.
Not to be forgotten, Montrezl Harrell added 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench as the Lakers’ reserves outscored San Antonio’s backups, 39-29.
3. So far so good for the Lakers in their most unusual road trip in a long, long time.
They’ll play the Spurs again in San Antonio on Friday, marking the first time since 1965 they played consecutive regular-season road games against the same opponent.
The reason is obvious. The NBA is trying to reduce travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of teams typically dropping by the home cities of conference opponents twice a year, the league has scheduled a number of these consecutive-game situations.
In fact, the Lakers play back-to-back games in Memphis on Sunday and Tuesday after leaving San Antonio. They also have a similar situation in Houston on Jan 10 and 12, and in Oklahoma City in February.
By the way, the team the Lakers played back-to-back in 1965 was the Hawks. The St. Louis Hawks, not Atlanta.