LOS ANGELES — Victor Wembanyama scored 37 of his season high-tying 40 points in the first half of the San Antonio Spurs’ fifth straight victory, 136-108 over the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.Wembanyama had the highest-scoring first half in the NBA this season and the highest-scoring half by a Spurs player in the 21st century while going 12 of 17 from the field with three 3-pointers against a Lakers lineup missing Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves.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. He also had 12 rebounds.Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart also sat out for the Lakers on the second night of a brutal back-to-back set against the Western Conference’s top two teams. Doncic and Smart are injured, while James, Reaves and Ayton are all managing health concerns.After winning the opening tip, Wembanyama scored 17 points in the first 4:15 on 5-for-5 shooting. He had 25 points before checking out with four minutes left in the Spurs’ 47-point first quarter, and he added 12 more in th …
