Wembanyama destroys the Lakers in eight-minute blowout

Only one team showed up to play... The Lakers — and this isn’t a knock on strategy — looked at the schedule, saw the situation, and chose pure pragmatism. The performance was dreadful, no way around it, and that alone undermines part of the plan because there’s a minimum standard of competitiveness you’re expected to meet. But the calendar is suffocating, and sometimes you manage it or it crushes you. The Spurs arrived and steamrolled Los Angeles without mercy.

The Lakers’ lineup was brutal: all five starters out for different reasons. That meant a surprise opportunity for Kobe Bufkin, who was suddenly in the starting five. Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and LeBron James all watched from the sidelines. A nightmare scenario. And the final score said everything.

Spurs 136, Lakers 108 at Crypto.com Arena — a matchup that was supposed to be a showdown between two Western Conference contenders turned into three quarters of garbage time. The game was effectively over after the first quarter. The Lakers never mounted anything resembling a coordinated response, aside from trimming the deficit in meaningless minutes.

And the executioner was Victor Wembanyama, who delivered a performance that bordered on supernatural. The box score tells one story, but the eye test told an even louder one. His opening quarter was one of the most absurd displays we’ve seen from him — and that’s saying something. Twenty‑five points in the first 7:59, shooting 8‑for‑9 from the field with three threes. His only miss came from deep. Lakers players looked stunned. Jake LaRavia fouled out shortly after halftime, completely unable to handle the French phenom.

Wembanyama shifted into playmaking mode in the second quarter and was eventually rested by coach Mitch Johnson midway through the third. He finished with 40 points and 12 rebounds in just 26 minutes, ten shy of his career high.

Why the Lakers sat everyone

This was the Lakers’ second game in as many nights. Because of recent injuries, Reaves and LeBron aren’t being pushed in back‑to‑backs. Doncic felt a muscle twinge last week and wasn’t going to risk it. Ayton is dealing with a nagging knee. Smart hurt his ankle against the Thunder. That’s the entire starting lineup.

The Lakers did, however, take advantage of a loophole: the game wasn’t nationally televised because the network with those rights is focused on the Winter Olympics. The NBA requires teams to play their stars in national broadcasts — but not in local ones. Los Angeles read the fine print and acted accordingly.

Wembanyama made history — again

Wembanyama destroyed every healthy Laker in front of him. LaRavia, Kleber, Hayes — all overwhelmed. His pace in the first quarter looked like something out of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100‑point night. His 25‑point opening frame is a personal best, and only James Harden has had a better first quarter this season (27 with the Clippers). Wemby scored 25 of the Spurs’ 47 in the period — nearly matching the Lakers’ 30.

By halftime, the Lakers had surrendered 84 points, the worst first‑half defensive mark in the franchise’s storied history. A monster came to Los Angeles and took over the city. Better days will come. The Lakers face the Mavericks late Thursday into Friday, a matchup they view as a much more winnable reset before the All‑Star break.

Spurs Keep Their Foot on the Gas

San Antonio didn’t hold anything back while the game was still alive — which wasn’t long thanks to Wembanyama. Only Jeremy Sochan sat out. In the closing minutes, fans even saw a frontcourt pairing no one expected: Kelly Olynyk and Bismack Biyombo battling against the Lakers’ young bench unit. The only sour note was a hard fall by rookie Stephon Castle after blocking Rui Hachimura, forcing him to head to the locker room.

The Spurs remain atop the West and are playing like a team that expects to stay there.

How the Avalanche Started

Julian Champagnie opened the game with a three. Then Wembanyama unleashed 17 straight points. Three threes, plus a series of plays where his long strides let him glide to the rim and dunk before defenders could react. It felt like an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel‑Air: “Give the ball to Will.” The crowd, instead of booing, realized they were witnessing something special and started cheering him on.

He kept attacking, kept scoring, and delivered eight unforgettable minutes of modern basketball stamped with generational talent. Johnson subbed him out with four minutes left in the first quarter — 25 points already in the bag — and the Lakers never recovered.

When Wemby returned, defenders swarmed him, so he dished to teammates like Bryant (16 points) and Harper (15), who joined the scoring party. The remaining quarters were meaningless. Time to move on. But beware the pattern: the Spurs have now won the season series 3–1, and these two teams could meet again in the playoffs.

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Los Angeles Lakers

Stats

28 Rui Hachimura
12 Jake LaRavia
11 Jaxson Hayes
18 Kobe Bufkin
10 Luke Kennard
9 Bronny James Jr.
14 Maxi Kleber
4 Dalton Knecht
30 Chris Mañon
3 Nick Smith Jr.
17 Drew Timme
2 Jarred Vanderbilt

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
28 Rui Hachimura	26	6	4	0	4	2	1	2	0	0/0	3/9	0/3	0	1
12 Jake LaRavia	18	10	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	2/2	1/4	2/2	0	6
11 Jaxson Hayes	16	13	4	1	3	3	2	0	0	0/0	5/6	1/1	0	3
18 Kobe Bufkin	24	7	2	0	2	1	3	1	0	2/2	1/5	1/5	0	1
10 Luke Kennard	27	14	2	1	1	5	1	0	0	3/3	4/5	1/3	0	0
9 Bronny James Jr.	25	12	3	0	3	6	2	0	1	0/0	3/8	2/2	0	3
14 Maxi Kleber	13	6	3	0	3	0	2	1	0	1/2	1/1	1/1	0	4
4 Dalton Knecht	16	9	5	1	4	1	1	0	0	1/2	4/6	0/2	0	2
30 Chris Mañon	7	2	1	0	1	1	1	2	0	2/2	0/0	0/0	0	0
3 Nick Smith Jr.	17	6	2	0	2	1	1	1	0	0/0	3/7	0/1	0	0
17 Drew Timme	20	14	2	0	2	0	1	0	0	2/4	3/5	2/3	0	0
2 Jarred Vanderbilt	16	6	4	1	3	2	2	0	0	1/2	1/3	1/2	0	0

San Antonio Spurs

Stats

30 Julian Champagnie
24 Devin Vassell
1 Victor Wembanyama
5 Stephon Castle
4 De'Aaron Fox
40 Harrison Barnes
18 Bismack Biyombo
11 Carter Bryant
2 Dylan Harper
3 Keldon Johnson
7 Luke Kornet
0 Jordan McLaughlin
8 Kelly Olynyk
10 Jeremy Sochan

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
30 Julian Champagnie	18	8	2	0	2	2	1	1	0	3/4	1/2	1/5	0	1
24 Devin Vassell	24	9	2	0	2	1	0	2	0	0/0	3/3	1/2	0	0
1 Victor Wembanyama	26	40	12	1	11	2	4	2	1	10/12	9/14	4/6	0	2
5 Stephon Castle	11	2	1	0	1	7	1	0	1	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	2
4 De'Aaron Fox	17	8	2	1	1	6	0	2	1	2/2	3/6	0/1	0	0
40 Harrison Barnes	20	11	3	1	2	2	0	3	1	0/0	1/1	3/5	0	0
18 Bismack Biyombo	9	0	4	1	3	0	2	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/0	0	3
11 Carter Bryant	26	16	4	0	4	3	0	1	0	1/4	3/4	3/8	0	2
2 Dylan Harper	27	15	3	1	2	6	1	1	0	3/3	6/7	0/1	0	1
3 Keldon Johnson	21	6	4	2	2	2	1	0	0	0/0	3/7	0/3	0	3
7 Luke Kornet	9	6	5	1	4	1	0	0	2	0/0	3/4	0/0	0	1
0 Jordan McLaughlin	14	7	2	0	2	2	1	2	0	0/0	2/3	1/2	0	1
8 Kelly Olynyk	12	8	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0/0	4/6	0/0	0	2
10 Jeremy Sochan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0