Win over champs is eclipsed by the crisis in Washington

Midway through the third quarter Thursday, Lamarcus Aldridge corralled a loose ball and found himself body to body with 6-foot-5 Lakers guard Alex Caruso.

The Spurs big man had his smaller defender right where he wanted him.

One problem. They were 27 feet from the basket and the shot clock was winding down.

“Since I don’t get to post up on the block no more, I have to post up somewhere,” Aldridge said “If it’s at the 3-point line, I’ll take it.”

Aldridge’s wheeling top-of-the-key prayer

found a home at the bottom of the net, and the Spurs went on to beat the defending champions 118-109 at the Staples Center.

“It was a hell of a shot,” Dejounte Murray said. “We’ll take it.”

The way Murray sees it, the seeds for the shot were planted earlier in Aldridge’s season-high 28-point night.

“Once he’s confident, he can have some really, really big nights,” Murray said.

Aldridge did Thursday, and it helped lift the Spurs to their second win in as many games at Staples Center this week.

On Tuesday, the Spurs held on for a 116-113 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on the same floor.

Earlier this week, the Spurs traveled to L.A. on a four-game losing streak and coming off a 130-109 home loss to Utah.

They departed Southern California with a 2-0 sweep of both Staples Center tenants, headed toward a back-to-back in Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday.

Demar Derozan added 19 points and eight assists, Murray scored 18 points with eight rebounds, and Rudy Gay had 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs finally got a win over against the defending champions.

Half of the 4-4 Spurs’ four losses have come against the Lakers this season.

“They are a heck of a team,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “With every outing, we are playing hard. It’s just a matter of playing smarter, getting used to each other, exe

cuting better. But their effort, their aggressiveness and their grunt has been really good.”

Lebron James scored 27 points, made four 3-pointers, and chalked up 12 assists for the Lakers, who dropped to 6-3. His AllStar counterpart, Anthony Davis, added 23 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

That did not stop the Spurs from beating the champs wire-to-wire.

For the second game in a row, the Spurs were aflame from the 3-point stripe.

They made 16 of 35 from beyond the arc against the Lakers, bringing their two-game totals at Staples Center to 36 of 75.

Eight different players converted 3-pointers, including the entire starting lineup. Six Spurs made more than one.

That included Derozan, who swished a pair of looks in the first half, including one that produced a 4-point play with 2:32 left in the first quarter that put the Spurs ahead by 15 points.

“That’s what we preach, sharing the ball,” said Derozan, who has made as many 3-pointers in eight games as all of last season (nine). “The ball finds open guys, and guys are ready to shoot.”

Aldridge also got into the act, swishing 3 of 7 from distance.

He did it elsewhere, too.

Playing in his second game since returning from a knee injury, Aldridge hit 11 of 18 field goals.

By halftime, Aldridge had 16 points, already his second-highest scoring night of the season.

He added 12 points in the third quarter and finished with his highestscoring night since going for 33 in a loss at Denver on Feb. 10 of last season.

“We knew it was a matter of time,” Derozan said. “He just needed to get his wind under him, his feel for the game back.”

Over two resounding nights in Los Angeles, the Spurs are getting their feel back, too.

On Thursday, they rode Aldridge to victory.

It is a performance Aldridge hopes to repeat in Minnesota, with one caveat. He is not sure he will try any more 27-foot post-ups

“It definitely wasn’t a shot I want to do all the time,” Aldridge said. “But when it’s working, it’s working.”