Two days removed from blowing a double-digit lead to Milwaukee at home, San Antonio returned to the AT&T Center to face a young Lakers team that is teetering on the brink of playoff relevancy (four games from the eight seed) and mediocrity (4.5 games from the worst record in the league).
And the Spurs — wiser and more comfortable with its play-by-play execution — absolutely throttled the Lakers out of the building.
Los Angeles is without the top-tier talent that allowed for compelling matchups against the Spurs for the past decade and counting. Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Brandon Ingram are replacing the likes of Kobe, Shaq, Pau and Dwight Howard.