Lakers' offense sputters in short-handed road loss to Spurs

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A short-handed lineup and lackluster offense resulted in the Lakers' first loss of 2026.

The Lakers' three-game win streak came to an end on Wednesday in San Antonio, falling to the Spurs 107-91 as Los Angeles' offense sputtered with three starters out.

Luka Dončić was the only Laker to have double figures through the first three quarters, which was a depiction of how nonexistent the offense was at the Frost Bank Center. The Lakers had to rely on the Slovenian to carry the offensive load throughout the game with LeBron James sidelined on the second night of a back-to-back.

On top of that, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura's absences were heavily felt, with no scoring spark, which left Dončić on an island most of the night to create production. This allowed mostly double teams by the Spurs, which barely had an effect on him.

Dončić finished the game with 38 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, notching his fifth triple-double of the season and the 14th time he's scored at least 35 or more points this season.

"I think I still shoulda done way better than this," Dončić said on the loss.

Dončić shot 13-for-26 while the rest of the group finished 21-of-60 from the field. That's 35% shooting compared to Dončić's 50%.

The Lakers had numerous opportunities to create momentum and retake the lead, despite their nonexistent offense outside of Dončić. The Spurs struggled to get their shots to fall from 3, making just four (of 25) in the game on 16% shooting.

"I think we're gonna eventually be a great basketball team, and to do that you need 9 or 10 guys that are playing high-level basketball," JJ Redick said.

But San Antonio balanced that with their points in the paint, totaling 66 on the night. This resulted in them finishing with 49% shooting from the floor.

Most of the Spurs' offensive load came from the bench, with Victor Wembanyama—still on a minutes restriction with the second unit—and Keldon Johnson. Johnson led the Spurs with 27 points (11-for-14 shooting) in 28 minutes, while Wembanyama had 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.

The Lakers could not get their deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter as Wembanyama poured in 10 points in the quarter, hitting multiple elbow jumpers over center Deandre Ayton to ice it.

Jake LaRavia (16 points) and Jaxson Hayes (10 points) were the only other Lakers to score in double figures, all eclipsing that in the final quarter.

The loss drops the Lakers to 23-12 and down to fourth in the West, as they now hold a 7-9 record against teams with a winning record (above .500).

The Lakers play the Milwaukee Bucks next at home on Friday and then head north to Sacramento for the Kings on Monday.