Lakers focus on reeling D, not playoff talk, after loss to Spurs - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — With real stakes on the line for the Lakers in the NBA Cup quarterfinals — a $530,000 cash prize per player and a second Cup championship in three years for the franchise hinging on the result — L.A. was thoroughly outplayed in a 132-119 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

The Spurs exposed the Lakers' already suspect perimeter defense, which ranked in the bottom five in the league in opponents' 3-point percentage (38.2%), by hitting 17-of-38 from the outside (44.7%) and leading by as many as 24 points in the elimination game for the in-season tournament.

When the Spurs weren't launching from beyond the arc, their guards were penetrating into the paint, compromising L.A.'s interior defense so much the Lakers often had no choice but to foul. San Antonio went 29-for-36 from the foul line compared with the Lakers' 17-for-23.

And when the Spurs weren't hurting L.A. in those areas, they were torching the Lakers in transition. San Antonio scored 35 points in transition Wednesday — its season high and the most allowed in a game by the Lakers this season, according to GeniusIQ.

Despite L.A.'s 17-7 start to the season, the loss mirrored many of the Lakers' other lopsided defeats in the first quarter of the regular-season schedule.

And it came two days after the agent for one of the team's most prominent players declared he didn't believe the Lakers were built for a long postseason run.

Rich Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports and the longtime friend and representative of LeBron James, said as much on the debut of his new podcast, «Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul,» released Monday.

«I don't think they have enough to get to the Western Conference finals,» Paul said. «I don't think they have enough to really