Spurs beat the Lakers to end an 18-game losing streak and get their first win since November 2.

Spurs beat the Lakers to end an 18-game losing streak and get their first win since November 2.

It felt different when the San Antonio Spurs’ players finally passed out with 1:40 left on the clock on Friday night. The Spurs got their fourth win this season, yet it wasn’t any win.

Victor Wembanyama or Devin Vassell strolled to the end of the bench and gave each other high fives as they did so.

The Spurs beat the Lakers 129–115, ending a franchise-record 18-sport losing streak. After the game, the two hugged for a long time.

“A hundred percentage, it didn’t seem like a normal win,” said Vassell. “You can see people dancing around all over the place. I’m trying to keep my cool. At the end of the day, it’s unique. “This is a unique group.”

It felt a little better than normal because, as Wembanyama put it, “it’s been a minute” since the San Antonio Spurs had won a game.

Wembanyama said, “It felt like an extra game to me.” “But we have a sense of good about it, of course.” We love that way of feeling. We really want to do it again, so we’re going to continue working hard.”

The Lakers had already played two games in San Antonio in three nights. On Wednesday, they beat the Spurs without LeBron James. James played on Friday, but Anthony Davis, Cam Reddish, or D’Angelo Russell were not on the team.

James played 36 minutes in the first game between the No. 1 pick from the 2003 draft and the No. 1 pick from the 2023 draft. He finished with 23 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds.

As the Lakers were making a comeback in the last minute of the second quarter, Rose hit a corner 3-pointer in Wembanyama to cut the lead to two points.

When asked if he was sure that everyone in the field was looking at him, Wembanyama said, “Of course.” Wembanyama said, “That was a shot with a lot of angle.”

James said that because Wembanyama has such a long reach and can block shots from outside his comfort zone, he tried to get his hands to go down a little.

Vassell had 36 points, which was the most in his career. Wembanyama had 13 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Wembanyama tied Davis for the most multi-block and multi-steal games in the NBA this year with five.

It was also the fourth time in Spurs history that a rookie ended a game with at least 10 points, 15 rebounds, along with 5 assists. Stephen Curry did it once, and David Robinson did it twice.

The Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns and won their first game since November 2. The Spurs lost that game after having a 27-point lead. In the late fourth quarter, the score was tied, but Wembanyama brought his team to victory.

Wembanyama said that one thing he had learned in the NBA up to that point was that 20-point wins don’t mean much. It’s been hard for the Spurs to keep any kind of lead since then.

The Spurs had lost eight straight games, which ties them for the most losses in NBA history over the last 25 years. They were 1-9 this season in games where they were ahead by as many as 10 points.

With only four points left in the half, the Los Angeles Lakers had cut the first-half lead from 25 points to just four. It looked like history might repeat itself.

That didn’t happen, though. The Spurs came back and grew their lead to the third quarter, then pulled away within the fourth.

The Spurs had lost eight straight games, which ties them for the most losses in NBA history over the last 25 years. They were 1-9 this season in games where they were ahead by as many as 10 points.

With only four points left in the half, the Lakers had cut the first-half lead from 25 points to just four. It looked like history might repeat itself.

That didn’t happen, though. The Spurs came back and grew their lead in the second quarter, then pulled away in the fourth.