San Antonio Spurs Team Report - December 4

(Basketball News) - The San Antonio Spurs lost their fourth in a row Wednesday, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers, 90-86, in front of their home crowd.

Tim Duncan returned to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension and led the Spurs with 30 points and 15 rebounds, but did not hit a field goal in five attempts in the fourth quarter. Tony Parker added 18 points and Manu Ginobili had 13 for San Antonio, which lost its fourth straight game for the first time since January of 2001.

The Spurs have also dropped all three encounters with the Lakers this season.

Trailing 71-62 heading into the fourth quarter, Kobe Bryant keyed a 14-4 Laker run that put them ahead for the first time since late in the first period. Bryant’s lay-in with 5:54 left to play made it 76-75 in favor of Los Angeles.

The game see-sawed back and forth, but the Lakers took the lead for good after a Gary Payton layup made it 81-80 with 4:16 remaining. Bruce Bowen then failed to put the Spurs ahead after missing two free throws, and Bryant was fouled at the other end and made both of his attempts from the line.

A basket by Ginobili reduced the deficit to one until Karl Malone and Shaquille O’Neal hit back-to-back baskets to extend the margin to five with under two minutes to play.

San Antonio was unable to muster a shot in the final two minutes that could tie the game, allowing Los Angeles to escape with a difficult road victory.

The Spurs are off until Friday when they start a three-game road trip against the lowly Orlando Magic.