On another strange night, marked by claims at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the San Antonio Spurs beat 109-118 away at Lakers who broke a streak of four consecutive wins.
The current league champions, with forward LeBron James at the helm, were immersed in a day full of political, social and racial demands, which made basketball and the final result were in the background.
Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge with 28 points and guard DeMar DeRozan, who achieved another 19 led the balanced attack of the Spurs (4-4) who won the second consecutive game after beating the Clippers last Tuesday.
The Lakers stayed, thanks to a double-double of 27 points and 12 assists from James and another 23 points and 10 rebounds from pivot Anthony Davis, until conclude the third period, with the score tied at 89.
Bad defense doomed the Lakers
But the Lakers defense was too slow in the last 12 minutes and without the final inspiration from James and Davis it was all over for the Los Angeles team.
The German base Dennis Schroder and the escort Wesley matthews they combined to score four of 17 shots from the field, while the team played without the number two starter, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, for the third straight game with ankle discomfort.
Power forward Kyle Kuzma fulfilled a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, while the Spanish pivot Marc Gasol in the 14 minutes he played as a starter achieved four points (1-1, 0-0, 2-2), captured a rebound, put a plug, lost three balls and committed four personal fouls.
