San Antonio Spurs vs LA Lakers California Classic Summer League 2023: Preview, prediction, rosters and more

The San Antonio Spurs and LA Lakers will face off in the California Classic Summer League on Wednesday, July 5.

This will be the final game for both sides in the tournament, after facing the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, respectively, on Monday.

The Spurs dominated all four quarters in a convincing 98-77 win over Charlotte. Newly re-signed forward Julian Champagnie led all scorers with 30 points while hitting five 3-pointers. Dominick Barlow was impressive and posted a double-double, putting up 24 points and 11 rebounds on a super efficient 10-of-13 shooting.

He locked it down on the defensive end, erasing shots at the rim, and played great while switching onto guards. San Antonio put in an all-around effort on defense and jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first five minutes and never let the Hornets get back into it.

Offensively, it moved the ball well, assisting on 20 shots. Undrafted rookie Erik Stevenson had 13 points, on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc, as San Antonio made an impressive start to its Summer League games.

On the other hand, the Lakers suffered a blowout loss to the Heat (107-90), playing poor basketball on both ends.

The team looked like a group of individuals who haven’t played an organized game together. It struggled offensively, rim protection was non-existent and a lot of turnovers in transition was its main issue. The Lakers trailed by 18 in the first half and never recovered.

2023 San Antonio Spurs Summer League Roster

Dominick Barlow

Charles Bediako

Malaki Branham

Chaundee Brown

Josh Carlton

Julian Champagnie

Sidy Cissoko

Justin Gorham

Logan Johnson

Sadik Kabaca

Justin Kier

Javante McCoy

Seth Millner

Erik Stevenson

Sir'Jabari Rice

Blake Wesley

LA Lakers Summer League roster

29 - Damion Baugh

26 - Colin Castleton

10 - Max Christie

30 - LJ Figueroa

27 - Alex Fudge

36 - Bryce Hamilton

55 - D'Moi Hodge

11 - Jalen Hood-Schifino

31 - Sacha Killeya-Jones

21 - Maxwell Lewis

14 - Scotty Pippen Jr.

20 - Cole Swider

Assistant coach JD DuBois serves as head coach for the LA Lakers, while Matt Nielsen is the San Antonio Spurs' head coach.

The standouts from LA's roster are Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 6-foot-6 guard from Indiana, who was drafted 17th overall and averaged 13.5 points (41.7% shooting, including 33.3% from 3-point range) and 4.1 rebounds and Maxwell Lewis from Pepperdine. Both were acquired in the 2023 draft and we expect them to have a key role in the game vs San Antonio and the rest of the Summer League.

On the other hand, expect the duo of Julian Champagnie and Dominick Barlow to take over for the Spurs for a second straight game. San Antonio is preparing for the debut of star big man and No.1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama in Las Vegas next week.

2023 NBA Draft

Based on what we saw in the opening games of the California Classic Summer League, expect the Spurs to cruise to an easy victory and move to Las Vegas for the main edition of the Summer League undefeated.