A pair of Western Conference powers, vying to become the primary threat to the defending NBA champions, will meet in an NBA Cup West semifinal Wednesday when the Los Angeles Lakers play host to the San Antonio Spurs.
Each team is hot as the Lakers have won nine times over their past 11 games with the Spurs prevailing in eight of their past 11. The Lakers saw LeBron James return during the stretch while the Spurs are finding success without Victor Wembanyama (calf).
Up next for the winner could be the ultimate midseason litmus test against the Oklahoma City Thunder if last season’s champs beat the Phoenix Suns in the other West semifinal.
Wembanyama went through pregame workouts in advance of the Spurs’ 135-132 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday but did not play. He traveled to Los Angeles with his playing status for Wednesday’s game to be determined.
Without their star Monday, the Spurs received a team-high 24 points from Harrison Barnes, including four 3-pointers, while rookie Dylan Harper had 22 points off the bench. Julian Champagnie added 17 points with five 3-pointers.
Stephon Castle (hip) played for the first time in 10 games and scored 18 points with five assists. The guard trio of Castle, Harper and De’Aaron Fox (14 points) all were available in a game for the first time this season.
“I think we all trust each other with the ball,” Harper said. “There is no ego between us three, which is a big thing in this league. I think we all just want to see each other succeed no matter what. … Just have that mindset of playing off each other and have one common goal, and that’s winning.”
Without its 7-foot-4 inside threat in Wembanyama, San Antonio shot 17 of 36 (47.2%) from 3-point range. The Spurs now face the Lakers, who are one of the worst teams defending shots from long range, with opponents shooting 37.9% from the 3-point line.
As the Lakers get their perimeter defense together, with Marcus Smart (back) expected to return after missing the past six games, they did see James make his season debut Nov. 18. In seven games, James has averaged 16.1 points with 7.6 assists.
Los Angeles put together a 112-108 road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday when James hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:12 remaining and added another with 27.4 seconds left.
James finished with a season-high 29 points (12 in the fourth quarter) after scoring just eight in his previous game to end his record double-digit scoring streak at 1,297 games.
“That was amazing. That was vintage Bron,” guard Luka Doncic said. “We’re happy he was there to save us. He had an amazing game, obviously amazing fourth quarter. He just decided the game.”
Doncic had 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists against the 76ers, while Austin Reaves had 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting.
After a 2-1 road trip, the Lakers return to Los Angeles where they saw a six-game home winning streak end with a 125-108 loss to the Suns on Dec. 1. Included in the win streak was a 118-116 victory over the Spurs on Nov. 5.
Wednesday’s winner earns a trip to Las Vegas for the West final on Saturday with the NBA Cup final against the East winner also set for Las Vegas next Tuesday.
