Los Angeles Times

An ugly, historic fall to Spurs

Lakers suffer worst loss to San Antonio and are eliminated from contention.

- mike.bresnahan@latimes.com Twitter: @Mike_Bresnahan

SAN ANTONIO 119 LAKERS 85

By Mike Bresnahan

SAN ANTONIO — Sure, why not. Another ragged moment for the Lakers and their fine tradition.

They never lost this badly to the San Antonio Spurs until Friday, a 119-85 blush of a game for the visitors that blew past their embarrassi­ng 32-point defeat here in 1977.

Insult meets injury meets history. Again.

The Lakers (22-44) were officially eliminated from playoff contention after experienci­ng another brutal night on defense. Who knew their victory over Oklahoma City on Sunday would become the miracle of the NBA season?

No need to stop just yet. The Spurs’ victory pushed the trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili past the “Showtime” group of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael

Cooper for second-most regularsea­son victories by three NBA teammates (491).

Even assistant coach Kurt Rambis was hit with a technical foul for protesting a non-call while sitting on the Lakers’ bench in the fourth quarter. Too bad he doesn’t still play. Now that would be entertaini­ng.

Lakers Coach Mike D’Antoni acknowledg­ed this was the hardest season he’d ever endured, and Pau Gasol sounded another alarm about the team needing to be “more selfless” on the floor, a recurring theme for him in recent weeks.

“Find the open guy, not force stuff, not trying to win it on your own,” Gasol said. “You know, basics.”

The Spurs always share the ball, and Friday was no different at AT&T Center.

Only one Spurs starter scored in double figures (Danny Green, 15 points) and they all sat out the fourth quarter, along with Ginobili.

The Lakers’ defense was a problem, as usual, but they added a new wrinkle with their inability to score. They had 71 points and were shooting 32.9% at the midpoint of the fourth quarter.

“We try to do too much individual­ly and that’s not going to work because it leads to offensive fastbreaks for the opponent,” said Gasol, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds without playing the fourth quarter. “They’re just waiting for the crack to open that game up and we don’t have enough to counter back.”

So the Lakers crawled closer to the team record for worst winning percentage since moving to Los Angeles in 1960, a distinctio­n currently held by the 1974-75 team, which went 30-52.

“It definitely turned a few months ago where we couldn’t get guys back healthy,” D’Antoni said after admitting this was his hardest of 12 seasons as an NBA coach.

Long before tipoff, a Lakers fan held up a “We Will Rise Again” sign as players took the court for pregame workouts.

Maybe. But not now. Not even close.

“When you’re a franchise like the Lakers,” Gasol said, “you don’t expect to have a season like this.”

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