The Los Angeles Lakers, though shorthanded due to injuries, defeated the playoff-hopeful San Antonio Spurs in overtime on Wednesday evening to complete a three-game sweep of their longtime rival for the first time since the 1997-98 season.
Lakers head coach Luke Walton called the impressive feat “nice”, but stopped short of further praise, echoing the team’s bigger-picture goal of returning to championship form.
The game, which had significant playoff implications for the Spurs, was nationally televised on ESPN. But the network made a critical mistake during crunch time, when the score all evened up at 108 apiece.