Johnson's early 3-point barrage helped the Spurs beat the Lakers and get to Las Vegas, where Victory Wembanyama might return.

The San Antonio Spurs held off the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday, Dec. 10 in a 132-119 victory in the final game of the NBA Cup quarterfinals. San Antonio had seven different players reach double figures in scoring, but guard Stephon Castle posted a 30-point double-double with 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

The NBA Cup quarterfinals ended on Wednesday with two big Western Conference matchups. The Oklahoma City Thunder crushed the Phoenix Suns, and the San Antonio Spurs surprised the Los Angeles Lakers. Both games showed where each team stands as the tournament heads to the semifinals.

Oklahoma City is an NBA best 23-1 and riding a 15-game winning streak. The Thunder are in contention to break the 2015-16 Warriors regular season record of 73 wins and 9 losses. If that happens, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would be a shoe-in to win the MVP like Steph Curry was that year.

Los Angeles struggled in a loss to the Spurs, who will join the Thunder, Knicks and Magic in Las Vegas for Saturday’s semifinals.

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The 2025-26 NBA season is nearly one-third of the way complete, having given us a ton of exciting basketball already.

Being labeled the favorite is supposed to inspire confidence. But for some franchises, it’s often where things go wrong. Since the 2014–15 season, a handful of NBA teams have consistently struggled to take care of business in games they were expected to win.