SAN ANTONIO – DeMar DeRozan finished with 36 points and nine assists and the San Antonio Spurs had eight players score in double figures in a 133-120 come-from-behind victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
LeBron James finished with 35 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for Los Angeles.
San Antonio got 14 points each from Patty Mills and Jakob Poeltl off the bench, and Davis Bertans added 13 points. The Spurs’ bench outscored the Lakers’ 52-26 in winning the season series 3-1.
Kyle Kuzma added 27 points and Lonzo Ball had 13 points and 11 assists for the Lakers.
Los Angeles led by as many as 15 points but was outscored 32-13 early in the fourth quarter and fell behind 121-114.
DeRozan had 11 points in the fourth quarter and San Antonio was 4 for 7 from beyond the arc in its comeback.
The Spurs opened the fourth quarter on an 18-6 run and pulled within 108-107 with 7:43 remaining.
Mills punctuated the run with a layup after drawing a foul on James near the Spurs’ bench that led to his teammates encircling and celebrating with him on the sidelines.
James scored the game’s opening basket on a fadeaway jumper on Dante Cunningham and then assisted on the Lakers’ next two field goals as they raced to a 9-2 lead.
Los Angeles hit three straight 3-pointers in extending their biggest lead to 15 points at 69-54 with 3½ minutes left in the first half.
Los Angeles build the 15-point lead with defense and hustle as JaVale McGee and James teamed up to stuff Rudy Gay at the rim and McGee tapped a missed shot back for a 3-pointer by James. (AP)
