With its bitter seven-game defeat in the Western Conference Finals still in mind, the Los Angeles Lakers hit the Spurs with a haymaker early in Game 1, having downed the Philadelphia 76ers in a seven-game war all its own to prevent Ben Simmons & co from a third straight Finals appearance. By the end of this year's Finals, however, the Lakers would receive the same treatment in a four-game ouster.
Game 1: A 24-24 stalemate was the result early in Game 1, as the Spurs weathered the storm solely due to on-fire shooting by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (6-9 3PT). KCP would cool off at 22 points on the night, sparking the Spurs to a blowout victory in tandem with Fred VanVleet, who notched a career-best 34 points on an even better 7 made shots from long range. Anthony Davis had 24 points, 17 rebounds. LeBron James scored 19 points with 8 assists, but his teammates failed to hit open shots. Jrue Holiday & Derrick Rose shot a combined 3-21 in Game 1. Steven Adams had 16 rebounds, with Dwight Howard's 12 points & 7 boards.
It was the 3rd Quarter that belonged to the Spurs, 32-23 and then the dam split open in the 4th Quarter, 33-19, as the Spurs rolled to a 121-96 home win to go up 1-0 over the Lakers. Ingram had 19 points, with 14 points & 9 assists by Dejounte Murray. JaVale McGee had 9 points, 9 rebounds. Andre Drummond crashed in 15 rebounds with 5 blocks. San Antonio led by 29 points, after nearly succumbing to a 9-PT hole early.
Game 2 became ugly early for the Lakers, falling into a 27-15 hole. The Lakers had a putrid 17 turnovers as the Spurs led by 27 at one point, winning 92-104 after some second half signs of life by the visiting team. Brandon Ingram had 22 points. Evan Fournier scored fifteen. Andre Drummond had 18 rebounds with 13 points. Dejounte Murray scored 12 points. For LA, Anthony Davis poured in 29 points with 16 rebounds. But LeBron James had a bad shooting night for just 12 points. Steven Adams notched 15 rebounds. Jrue Holiday also scored twelve in the loss.
Game 3 felt like deja-vu as STAPLES Center went dead quiet, mostly after a 36-17 beating by the Spurs in the 1st Quarter. The 4th Quarter was ugly, too, as the Spurs won that 36-22 to go up 3-0, 123-88. Anthony Davis had 22 points, but LeBron James had a bad night scoring the ball again, double-teamed by the Spurs.
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| Anthony Davis was strong for the Lakers. |
Game 4 saw a rally for the ages, a small redemption for the Lakers. They trailed 62-81 heading into the final period, and King James finally stepped it up en route to 32 points. The Spurs had led largely for most of the game, as KCP poured in 20 points. Brandon Ingram had 24 points, but it was Dejounte Murray that seized the championship tonight for the Spurs. Anthony Davis had 26 points, with 15 points & 6 assists by Fred VanVleet. Andre Drummond had 16 rebounds & 12 points.
The Lakers rallied to within 92-95, as 1:50 remained on their season. J.J. Redick finally hit a 3PTer on the fast break, giving the Lakers a 2-PT lead, threatening a Game 5, but then it was Murray's moment: a powerful dunk past Steven Adams, drawing the foul to seize the advantage once again. Murray buried the free throw to cap off 22 points. Jrue Holiday missed a 3PT shot on the other end, and with time running out, fouled Fred VanVleet who buried two free throws. The Lakers called timeout, with their season dangling in the wind.
"It's no good! The Spurs are NBA Champions for a historic 12th consecutive time!"
Losing Game 4, 105-102, LeBron James took the high ground and embraced Brandon Ingram, your Finals MVP for the 3rd straight year. Ingram averaged 25.5ppg, 7.8rpg, 1.3apg, 1.5bpg on 41% shooting from 3PT territory. The Spurs have now tied the Lakers & Celtics for 17 all-time NBA Championships.
