Coming off an impressive double overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the court in the second of a back-to-back on Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies.
While the Lakers got LeBron James back in the lineup, Anthony Davis was ruled out after hurting his knee and playing 52 minutes in Milwaukee. The Grizzlies have dealt with their fair share of injuries too and as a result, James and the Lakers were too much, coming away with a 136-124 victory.
Jaxson Hayes got the start in Davis’ place and had a pair of dunks early, although former Laker Scotty Pippen Jr. also got started early for Memphis with five quick points.
It didn’t take long for James to get going, driving for a pair of layups to put the Lakers up 14-9 going into the first timeout.
The Lakers were throwing a lot of lobs early as Austin Reaves was racking up the assists to James and Hayes. Spencer Dinwiddie then hit a triple to give L.A. its first double digit lead.
After James and Reaves went to the bench though, the Grizzlies got hot from deep with Desmond Bane leading the way, cutting their deficit to 37-36 at the end of the first.
Russell connected on another triple to begin the second and then Hachimura got going with seven points, including a dunk and a corner triple. Reaves and Hachimura were looking how they looked in last year’s playoff series in Memphis are both were creating easy offense for L.A. After a strong close to the half, the Lakers went into the locker room leading 69-61.
Hachimura picked up where he left off to begin the second half, drilling back-to-back 3s. Russell then got in on the action and all of a sudden the Lakers were up 14. They continued pouring it on from deep with Russell hitting another and then Taurean Prince connecting as well.
James took a hard fall towards the end of the third quarter but appeared to be OK, staying in the game. He then had a steal and a layup and then an assist to Dinwiddie for a 3, giving the King a triple-double. Meanwhile, it seemed like the Lakers could do no wrong as they built a 27-point lead.
Not so fast though as James went to the bench and the Lakers took their foot off the gas. The Grizzlies went on a big run to close the third quarter, cutting their deficit to 102-92.
With the Lakers needing to regain focus to begin the fourth, it of course was Hachimura to get them going with a 3 and a block.
Jake LaRavia caught fire for the Grizzlies as they would not go away quietly, keeping their deficit right around 10. James finally had enough though, going into attack mode one last time to put the game out of reach for good.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers continue their road trip on Friday night when they take on the Indiana Pacers in a rematch of last week’s game at Crypto.com Arena.
More must-reads: