The San Antonio Spurs dominated the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 136-108, leading to their fifth straight victory on Tuesday evening.
Victor Wembanyama dropped 37 of his season-high 40 points in the first half, having the highest-scoring first half in the NBA this season by a Spurs player while going 12 of 17 from the field with three 3-pointers.
The Lakers played without Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves.
Doncic and Marcus Smart are injured, while James, Reaves, and Deandre Ayton are all managing health concerns.
Wembanyama played only the first eight minutes of the second half with the Spurs far ahead in their 10th win in 13 games.
The French big man became the third player in the past 50 seasons to score at least 40 points while playing 27 minutes or fewer, and also grabbed 12 boards.
Ayton and Smart also sat out for the Lakers on the second night of a back-to-back set against the Western Conference’s top two seeds.
Carter Bryant also scored a career-high 16 points and Dylan Harper added 15 for San Antonio.
Luke Kennard and Drew Timme scored 14 points each for the Lakers, and Bronny James had 12 and six assists.
Meanwhile, James missed the 18th game of his 23rd NBA season, disqualifying him from making his 22nd straight appearance on the All-NBA teams.
Doncic also missed his third straight game with a hamstring strain.
The Spurs will play at Golden State on Wednesday, while the Lakers host Dallas on Thursday.
