Smart provides spark off a buried bench

LeBron James' emphatic, one-handed dunk brought the crowd at Crypto.​com Arena to its feet.

- THUC NHI NGUYEN

GINA FERAZZI Los Angeles Times MARCUS SMART had 26 points Wednesday against Kelly Olynyk and the Spurs.

It left the Spurs' Luke Kornet shrinking under James' intense glare and scream. It will live on in the soon-to-be 41-year-old's highlight reel, but for this night, James wanted it to fade into the background.

Because even though the moment left his teammates jumping on the bench and gasping for air, it did nothing to stave off a Lakers loss.

"It was just a play," James said after the Lakers lost 132-119 to San Antonio on Wednesday, eliminating them from NBA Cup play and setting up a regular matchup at Phoenix on Sunday at 5 p.m.

The Lakers (17-7) went 2-3 during a revealing fivegame stretch against teams with winning records and needed fourth-quarter heroics to squeeze out both wins, which came by a combined seven points. The Lakers' plus-1.5 scoring margin ranked 15th in the NBA after their last three losses came by an average of 17 points.

"We really got to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we're gonna do," guard Marcus Smart said. "We're going to lay down and get punked or we're going to fight back.

And I'm not the one that's going to lay down and get punked." Here are three takeaways from the loss: Smart finds touch After missing six games because of a back injury, Smart returned to score a season-high 26 points in 28 minutes, going eight for 14 from three-point range with three rebounds and one assist.

Smart struggled with injuries while with Memphis and Washington after getting traded from Boston in 2023. He hoped that coming to the Lakers, with their eternal championship ambitions, could help him revitalize his career. He got off to an uneven start, missing two of the first five games and shooting only 25.4% from three-point range overall.