The South Bay Lakers enter Friday’s game against the Austin Spurs in Texas with a 4-1 regular season record and five wins in their past six games. But in this game, the Lakers had none at all.
They fell behind significantly at the end of the first quarter and trailed 63-44 at halftime. Although they won the third quarter 27-21, they failed to launch a real counterattack and ultimately lost 111-99.
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Kobe Bufkin tried to score 37 points to bring the Lakers victory, but he shot 12 for 28 and didn’t get enough help. Only four South Bay players scored in double figures, and no one besides Bufkin scored as many as 14 points.
The two teams face off again on Saturday at the HEB Center in Cedar Park. This time, South Bay was more competitive, leading 61-52 at halftime and leading by 13 points early in the third quarter. But the Spurs tied the score at the end of the quarter and led 98-90 with more than 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
South Bay then fought back, and Bufkin made a two-pointer with 27 seconds left in the game to tie the score to 107-106. He then blocked Kyle Mangas’ layup attempt to win the game, but RJ Davis missed both of his game-winning attempts.
On Saturday, Bufkin scored 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting, along with six rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Chris Magnon scored 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks on 6 of 12 shots. Arthur Kaluma contributed 18 points off the bench.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: South Bay Lakers recap: G League Lakers lose back-to-back to Spurs
