Stacking up the Ws

The Los Angeles Lakers have once again pieced together seven straight wins. They moved to 14-2 on the season following Monday’s 109-108 road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, which strengthened their grip for the best record in the league. The hot run is also the best 16-game start among all of LeBron James’s teams.

James was in scoring mode against the Grizzlies, as he notched 30 points on 14-for-27 shooting, marking a new season-high in shot attempts. He only dished out four assists and bid goodbye to his streak of having 10 or more assists in a game, which reached seven. Anthony Davis, meanwhile, was in a festive mood for defense, as he recorded five blocks and three steals to go along 22 his points.

The Lakers won their first meeting with the San Antonio Spurs three weeks back, 103-96, with James dropping a triple-double and Davis posting 25 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks. Dwight Howard was the third key man for the Lake Show that night. He made all of his seven shots and double-doubled with 14 points and 12 boards.

Finally back on the win column

The Spurs have just broken free from an agonizing eight-game losing skid, the franchise’s worst in the Gregg Popovich era. They were able to jump into an early lead against the New York Knicks on Sunday and went on to win, 111-104. With the victory, Pop and his men improved to 6-11 on the season.

All-Stars LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan powered the Spurs in the skid-snapping performance, scoring 23 and 21 points, respectively. Jakob Poeltl also played a good role as he went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor for 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Hopefully, the Spurs’ All-Stars will be able to build off from the win. The two played terrible in last month’s loss to the Lakers and only combined for 22 points on 7-for-24 shooting – Aldridge’s four points on the night was his season-low.

Along with DeRozan (22.1 PPG) and Aldridge (18.1 PPG), four more Spurs are also averaging in double-figures – Bryn Forbes, Rudy Gay, Patty Mills, and DeJounte Murray. It could easily be seven in total, though, with Derrick White (9.8 PPG) going in and out of the list.

PREDICTION:

The Spurs get revitalized from finally ending their losing streak and they shock the Lakers with an aggressive and balanced play on both ends.