LOS ANGELES — The Lakers were the prize of the NBA last weekend, winning the league’s first-ever in-season tournament with an inspired run in Las Vegas.

Fast forward to this weekend, where they made headlines for a different reason.

The Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 129-115, allowing the Spurs to snap a franchise-record 18-game losing streak.


What You Need To Know

  • Devin Vassell scores a career-high 36 points for Spurs, who improve to 4-20

  • Lakers played without Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Cam Reddish

  • LeBron James has 23 points and 14 assists in losing effort

Guard Devin Vassell scored a career-high 36 points as the Spurs stunned the short-handed Lakers, who played without three starters Friday in San Antonio.

The Spurs had a dismal 3-20 record. Not any longer.

The Lakers were undoubtedly short-handed, playing without Anthony Davis (sore hip and groin), Cam Reddish (sore knee) and D’Angelo Russell (migraine).

The trio was averaging a combined 47 points.

“When you don’t have three of your starters, it’s tough,” Lakers Coach Darvin Ham said. “But no one feels sorry for you…just got to get healthy as soon as possible.”

Davis, in particular, had been playing great lately. He had 41 points last weekend against Indiana as the Lakers won the NBA’s first-ever in-season tournament. He followed it up with 37 points against Dallas and matched it with 37 against San Antonio on Wednesday.

“Our team is not built to have three starters [sidelined]. We’re just limited with bodies,” LeBron James said. “When we’re healthy, we’re one of the best teams in the league. When we’re not, we’ve had some ups and downs.”

The Lakers (15-11) were a step slow on defense, especially in the beginning.

The Spurs couldn’t miss in the first quarter and took a 42-22 lead, a bizarre extension of their 45-point fourth quarter against the Lakers two days earlier.

The Lakers cut the lead to 69-62 at halftime but never led the entire game.

Seven players scored in double digits for San Antonio, including bench players Zach Collins (16 points) and Cedi Osman (15 points). Rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama scored 13 points and had 15 rebounds.

Not only were the Lakers poor defensively, they couldn’t string together enough offense beyond James (23 points), Austin Reaves (22) and Rui Hachimura (20). They also didn’t help themselves at the free-throw line, making only 18 of 28 attempts (64%).

James looked fresh after sitting out Wednesday’s game because of a sore calf.

He had 14 assists Friday, including nine in the second quarter, but couldn’t avoid a minor injury himself. He got hit in the face three different times, including an accidental blood-inducing swipe near the nose by teammate Hachimura.

“I got a little headache, but I’ll be all right,” James said.

James left the game for good with 5:29 to play. The Lakers were down 20.

The Lakers don’t play again until Monday at home against New York. Then they hit the road again for a three-game trip to Chicago, Minnesota and Oklahoma City.