The Los Angeles Lakers essentially gave away their Tuesday night contest against the San Antonio Spurs, as basically their starting five of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, and Marcus Smart were all absent on the second night of a back-to-back set. And predictably so, the Lakers have fallen way behind the Spurs after Victor Wembanyama popped off for 37 points in the first half alone.
At the very least, Lakers fans saw a bit of a cool moment prior to the start of a game that anyone would just want to forget. With LeBron out, it was his son Bronny James who took on the pregame ball toss duties during their warmups that his father usually has, and to be fair to him, he did well.
Bronny assumed the pregame duties that LeBron usually has 🥹 pic.twitter.com/S4mcno7N70
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) February 11, 2026
This is just about the only good thing Lakers fans can take away from this game. Fans who spent their hard-earned money to watch the game live at Crypto.com Arena have to be feeling pissed that not even a single one of the Lakers’ stars were active on the night.
Be that as it may, the Lakers are prioritizing the long-term health of their players, and with the All-Star break on the horizon, this is the wise thing to do anyway.
Lakers find themselves overmatched against the Spurs
Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
There was simply no way the Lakers were going to be very competitive on a night where five of their most valuable players were sitting out due to various knocks. Fans may bring up memories of their early season win against the Portland Trail Blazers despite being shorthanded, but they were with Ayton for that game and the Blazers are much worse than the Spurs.
This loss is a write-off, and the Lakers are now 32-21 on the season as a result even though the game is not yet officially over. They will look to get back on track on Thursday when they take on the Dallas Mavericks.
