The San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers will face each other for the second time this season. Los Angeles won a thriller in the first one, but can the Lakers double down on their dominance of the Spurs? Or, will San Antonio level the regular-season series even without Wembanyama?

Catch this game live on Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM, Manila time

Away: San Antonio Spurs (16-7, 7-5  Away)

Projected Starting Five:

  • De’Aaron Fox
  • Stephon Castle
  • Devin Vassell
  • Harrison Barnes
  • Luke Kornet

The Spurs survived a shootout on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans in The Big Easy to come away with a 135-132 win over Derik Queen and company. Veteran forward Harrison Barnes put up 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting to pace San Antonio scorers, while rookie Dylan Harper came off the bench and scored 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting, including a clutch bucket near the end of regulation. 

Despite Victor Wembanyama missing a bunch of games, San Antonio has managed to keep its head above water. Wemby is still not expected to play in the rematch versus LA this Wednesday, which isn’t ideal for the Spurs, who lost to the Lakers on the road on Nov. 6, 118-116. But this time around, San Antonio will have both De’Aaron Fox and Harper available unlike in the first meeting with Los Angeles. Fox is averaging 24.3 points per game, while Harper is adding 13.5 points per outing for San Antonio, which is putting up 119.6 points per contest.

Home: Los Angeles Lakers (17-6, 7-3  Home)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Luka Doncic
  • Austin Reaves
  • Rui Hachimura
  • LeBron James
  • Deandre Ayton

LeBron James just keeps on defying Father Time. Sure, his historic 10-point scoring streak had already been snapped, but he can still light it up. After the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics on the road over the weekend (126-105), Los Angeles stunned the Philadelphia 76ers (112-108) on the road on Monday, with the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player delivering one back-breaking bucket after another to lift LA. James finished the game with 29 points on 12-for-17 shooting to go with six assists. 

But it was Luka Doncic who top-scored for the Lakers with 31 points to go with 15 rebounds and 11 assists to author another triple-double. Doncic had 35 points and 13 dimes in the first meeting with San Antonio, while Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 10 boards. Ayton could be the x-factor in this rematch, as he’ll deal with a Spurs frontcourt that’s missing Wembanyama. Meanwhile, Austin Reaves, the Lakers’ second-leading scorer this season (28.4 PPG), will look to make up for the lost time he had in the Lakers’ previous meeting with the Spurs, which he missed because of a hamstring injury.

Picks

Spread: Los Angeles Lakers (-5.5)
Over/Under: Over (237)