San Antonio stretched its seemingly unstoppable home winning streak to 37 games, but not before an old foe had his say.
Kobe Bryant had brilliant stretches while scoring 25 points and guiding the Lakers to a fourth-quarter lead, but Los Angeles couldn’t finish off its hosts in his final game in the Alamo City, falling 106-102.
After a close opening quarter, the Spurs (43-8) stretched their lead to 13 in the second. But the Lakers (11-42) wouldn’t roll over against the team with the NBA’s second-best record.
After slowly churning its way closer, L.A. rolled off seven unanswered points to briefly take a one-point edge at the end of the half. Though San Antonio regained its advantage before intermission, Bryant still had yet to heat up.
In fact, it was San Antonio native Jordan Clarkson who kept the Lakers close by scoring 14 of his 21 points across the first two quarters. Bryant, meanwhile, was just 2-of-10 with four points.
However, that flipped around when the 18-time all-star ignited for his hottest stretch of the season.
Despite being covered by Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard, Bryant knocked down 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions — including while being fouled by Patty Mills on the the last one, resulting in a four-point play.
By the end of the period, Bryant had poured in 16 points and guided the Lakers to a two-point lead.
L.A. extended its cushion to five early in the quarter, but the Spurs were able to tie at 90 shortly after on back-to-back triples by Danny Green.
After the Spurs regained the upper hand, clutch shots by Bryant and Lou Williams tied the game once more, though the Lakers found themselves trailing by three in the final seconds.
Green missed a jumper, which appeared to gift L.A. one more possession, but Leonard — who had 20 points and 13 rebounds — flew in for the offensive board to douse the Lakers’ hopes.
San Antonio had trailed in the fourth quarter for a total of two minutes and one second in its 27 previous home games this year, but L.A. managed to stay ahead for 4:36 of the final period. Still, the Spurs remained perfect at AT&T Center since March 12, 2015.
The Mamba has one last showdown in San Antonio. #MambaMoments #GoLakershttps://t.co/BzPGjjYmtN
Remember the Mamba After 20 year of battling the Spurs in the regular season and playoffs, Bryant suited up for the final time in San Antonio.
Though longtime adversaries Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili sat due to injuries, Bryant still managed to make this goodbye special by leading the Lakers in points, thus giving him a 28.3 scoring average over his last four games.
Prior to hearing his name called in pregame warmups, Bryant was presented with a video tribute put together by the Spurs.
Thank You, @kobebryant. #KB20https://t.co/dg7iobdKnZ
Notes Julius Randle collected his 20th double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds. … LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 26 points. … Roy Hibbert left the game in the first quarter with a left ankle sprain. He will be reevaluated. … A sold-out audience of 18,418 attended at AT&T Center.
Pop Hug #Respect #KB20
A photo posted by Los Angeles Lakers (@lakers) on Feb 6, 2016 at 5:48pm PST
