SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Devin Vassell had 36 points, Victor Wembaneyama had 13 points and 15 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs defeated the underpowered Los Angeles Lakers 129-115 on Friday night, 18 The losing streak ended.
LeBron James missed Wednesday’s game against the Lakers with a bruised left calf, but returned with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Anthony Davis was sidelined with a hip injury after scoring 37 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ 122-119 win over the Spurs on Wednesday. Los Angeles also missed D’Angelo Russell (migraine) and Cam Reddish (sore right knee).
The win was San Antonio’s first since defeating Phoenix on Nov. 2. This is the longest losing streak in franchise history, surpassing last season’s 16-game failure.
The Lakers, the NBA in-season tournament champions, were playing their third game in four nights.
Keldon Johnson scored 17 points and Zach Collins added 16 points for the Spurs.
The Lakers tried to counter Davis’ absence with a balanced scoring effort. Austin Reeves scored 22 points and Rui Hachimura added 20 points.
San Antonio led by double digits four minutes into the game and extended the lead to 49-24 on Doug McDermott’s 3-pointer three minutes into the second quarter.
The 25-point lead quickly disappeared as the Lakers went on a 38-17 run early in the second quarter. Christian Wood pushed past Wembaneyama for a layup to cut the Spurs’ lead to 66-62 with 19 seconds left in the first half.
Wood’s dunk with four minutes left in the third quarter capped an 8-0 run at 88-80.
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Lakers: Host New York on Monday.
Spurs: Host New Orleans at home on Sunday.