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Lakers blown out by Spurs in 1st game back after wildfire postponements

Lakers star Anthony Davis, left, goes up for a layup as San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama defends during the first half on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

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Lakers star Anthony Davis, left, goes up for a layup as San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama defends during the first half on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

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LOS ANGELES — Basketball has been the furthest thing from many people’s minds throughout Southern California in light of the deadly wildfires that have ravaged the area over the past week.

But Lakers coach JJ Redick, whose rental home in Pacific Palisades was one of the structures lost to the Palisades Fire, hoped his team’s Monday night home game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers’ first game since the fires started last Tuesday, could provide hope.

That it could be a positive “escape” or “distraction” from the tragedies from over the last week.

But eventually, basketball was going to become a primary focus again. And the Lakers’ performance in their 126-102 loss to the Spurs on Monday continued the troubling trends in their recent play.

It was the third consecutive loss for the Lakers (20-17) dating to the road losses to the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks that preceded their two postponed games – Thursday’s home game against Charlotte and Saturday’s game against the Spurs.

“I always try to give grace to myself, the staff or players,” Redick said. “Doesn’t mean you don’t critique and it doesn’t mean you don’t tell the truth. We’ve had, for three games, now real slippage defensively.”

Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 30 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. LeBron James had 18 points, eight assists and five rebounds but had seven of the Lakers’ 18 turnovers and took a season-low 11 shots, the same number as Max Christie and three fewer than Austin Reaves.

The Spurs turned the Lakers’ 18 giveaways into 25 points.

After an encouraging first half, the Lakers were dominated by the Spurs, especially in the fourth quarter.

San Antonio outscored the Lakers 73-40 in the second half, including 37-13 in the fourth, after the Lakers had a 62-53 lead at halftime. The Spurs closed the third quarter on a 15-5 run to tie the score and outscored the Lakers 25-9 in the first nine minutes of the fourth.

“They made adjustments,” Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith said. “They seen we were switching so it seemed like once we got A.D. on the perimeter, they started attacking the basket. And it worked out well.”

Finney-Smith added: “[Chris Paul] is a Hall of Fame point guard so he just started manipulating the game. He started trying to put different matchups on bigger guys and they weave and it causes us to overreact and they get a corner 3, or even if they missed the shot, they were getting the offensive rebound.”

But as much as the Lakers’ struggled late offensively, their defense has slipped significantly over the last few games, allowing 121 points per game over the last three contests.

Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell each scored 23 points for the Spurs. Harrison Barnes scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth, and Paul added 13 points, 10 assists and three steals.

The Lakers retired Michael Cooper’s No. 21 jersey with a halftime ceremony honoring the Hall of Fame guard who won five championships during the “Showtime” era.

But even postgame, what was going on around L.A. outside of basketball remained a focus.

“Sucks that we weren’t able to get to win, not with just that, but then, Coop’s jersey retirement,” Davis said. “But definitely a tough situation in L.A., and we appreciate all of everyone’s support from around the world, around the country and other leagues and other teams. And the first responders, risking their lives to make sure that, everyone try to to be safe as possible. So, tough time, but we’re going to get through it together.”

Davis added that his family was among those who had to evacuate their homes after the fires got close enough to see from his property.

“Win, lose, draw, this game is over and everything’s still going on in the world,” he said. “So, bittersweet in a sense because we still have, people who are dealing with real life situations. And we get to go out here and play basketball. So it’s kinda tough. Obviously, we still have, a job to do and at some point, we’re going to have to play basketball again, go back to work. We tried to, obviously get this win. We never want to lose. But, with the Rams winning and … us trying to, get the win and bring, a little bit of joy to the city, for a little bit.”

Davis said he hopes to meet personally with first responders to offer thanks, and he’s working on a way to thank them with tickets to a Lakers game.

“A tough time for our city, and one thing we found out through the course of COVID, sports kind of brings joy back to people, even if it’s temporary,” Davis said. “We were eager to play basketball again in front of our fans.”

HELPING HANDS

The Lakers staged a donation drive outside their arena before the game, accepting food and packaged personal items. They were among 12 L.A. area pro teams that announced Monday they will contribute more than $8 million combined for local relief efforts. The Lakers donated $3 million worth of Fanatics merchandise to Angelenos who evacuated from their homes.

The Lakers displayed the message “Thank you first responders” on their scoreboard before the game and observed a moment of silence before point guard Gabe Vincent spoke to the crowd.

“On behalf my teammates, this organization, our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this,” Vincent said. “We’d definitely like to give a shoutout to the first responders who are putting their lives on the line right now to protect our community. I think it’s important at this time that we come together as a city, as a community, as a family, to help support those that are in need right now.”