SAN ANTONIO, (Reuters) – The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 105-85 yesterday, extending a poor run of road form for the NBA Champions who also lost Kobe Bryant to injury.
Tim Duncan had 25 points and 13 rebounds as the Spurs handed the Lakers to their fourth straight road defeat, their first such run of losses since 2007.
“They were obviously wounded,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. “We played well tonight, and everybody needs a win against a good team.”
Four-time NBA champion Bryant exited the game due to back spasms after falling in the third period.
Already nursing a finger injury on his shooting hand, guard Bryant had 16 points for Los Angeles (29-9) before leaving the court. Andrew Bynum was the Lakers’ top scorer with 23 points.
The Spurs (23-13) took a 53-41 halftime advantage before building a 20-point lead in the third. The Lakers battled back to 76-69 with 9:19 remaining before San Antonio closed the game with a 10-0 run.
For San Antonio, the win was just their fourth against a team with a winning record this season. Tony Parker had 22 points and six assists as the Spurs took their second straight overall.
Los Angeles turned the ball over 15 times leading to 27 Spurs points, while the Lakers mustered only 10 points off turnovers.
“They took our kids to school,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “They got easy shots and got themselves going. In the second half we got it to within six points and then we made some turnovers that put the game out of reach.”
In a matchup of two teams that dominated the previous decade, the Lakers were playing their fifth straight game without Pau Gasol, who has a hamstring injury.
Bryant did not play in the fourth and was coming off one of the worst shooting performances of his career on Sunday when he made just four of 21 shots against the Milwaukee Bucks.