The San Antonio Spurs look to hand the downtrending Los Angeles Lakers its fourth-straight defeat.

Catch the game tomorrow at 9:30 AM, Manila time.

AWAY: Los Angeles Lakers (10-7, 3-5 AWAY)

Projected starting five:

• D’Angelo Russell
• Austin Reaves
• Rui Hachimura (day-to-day)
• LeBron James
• Anthony Davis

The Lakers are now losers of three-straight. It seems that they were demoralized by the crushing last-second, 119-118 loss to the Orlando Magic last November 22. They have lost 127-102 to the Denver Nuggets and 127-100 to the Phoenix Suns as a follow up.

The slight hope is the team has already beaten the Spurs this season. They won last November 16, 120-115, with Anthony Davis dropping 40 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks. AD has had some quiet performances as of late and would need to return to that groove. The same goes with LeBron James, who had a triple-double of 15 points, 16 boards, and 12 assists that night, but have also been hot-and-cold for the most part. The 40-year-old is averaging a career-low 23.2 PPG thus far, though also on 8.1 rebound and 9.2 assists on a 50.7% clip. He’s at 18.0 on 42.2% shooting in his last two.

Austin Reaves will be the third man as always. He recorded 19 points and six dimes in the said victory over SAS, and should look to be more active to help alleviate attention on James and Davis. Rookie Dalton Knecht has slowed down with the return of Rui Hachimura, although ultimately, either would simply need to show up.

HOME: San Antonio Spurs (10-8, 8-3 HOME)

Projected starting five:

• Chris Paul
• Julian Champagnie
• Stephon Castle
• Harrison Barnes
• Victor Wembanyama

The upstart Spurs are gaining confidence and are riding a four-game winning streak, and that’s with Victor Wembanyama missing two of those outings. They score 117.0 PPG and allow just 107.8 in return across that stretch.

Wemby is slowly establishing after an iffy start. He has 34.3 points, 8.5 boards, 4.5 dimes, and 2.8 blocks on 53.1% shooting in his last four. Rookie Stephon Castle is in the same boat as he is chipping in 17.3 points and 5.0 assists in his last six. Both will only get better, and it makes the Spurs a treat to watch, especially with Chris Paul manning the point. Wemby and Castle led the team with 28 and 22 points in their aforementioned loss to LAL.

Though Paul is showing his age at times, he’s still delivering 10.9 points, 8.4 assists, and 1.4 steals on the season, and the mentorship he’s providing on the young guns is a valuable factor.

Devin Vassell (16.3 PPG) will reportedly return to the lineup after yet another injury. We’ll see if he can finally stay healthy.

PICKS:

Spread: Spurs (+2.5)

Over/Under: Over (226.5)