Injured Lakers Mauled by Injured Grizzles

In a matchup of two injury-ravaged squads, the Lakers fell 103-100 to the Grizzlies in Memphis, despite a supernova performance from Lou Williams.

Magic versus Larry. LeBron versus Steph. Lou versus Troy? Hey, maybe not the classic battle of NBA superstars you’re used to, but Lou and the Grizz’s Troy Daniels had a helluva duel. Sweet Lou finished with 40 points on the night, including 28 in the first half alone. He had the full arsenal working, as he was able to bait the Grizz into three of his patented fouled-on-a-3-point-attempts, and even threw down a dunk for good measure.

And Daniels wasn’t too shabby himself. The bench swingman kept the Grizz in the game in the first half, on his way to hitting six 3-pointers and notching 31 points for the game.

Their squads needed the respective efforts, as the Lakers matched up with the one team in the Western Conference with a worse injury report than LA, with six players missing from action — including Zach Randolph, Vince Carter, and Mike Conley. Not to be outdone on the wounded front, Jose Calderon left the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury, forcing Marcelo Huertas into the rotation.

The Grizz took advantage of Huertas’ lack of size, as they grabbed the lead early in the fourth quarter after posting up Tony Allen (of all people) for a few possessions against the Brazilian.

Lou’s midas touch waned in the closing minutes, as Allen intercepted two errant passes from the Lakers guard, but he was able to bring the Lakers within three on an and-one runner in the lane. After LA forced a Memphis miss with 30 seconds to play, the Lakers had an opportunity to tie the game, but Lou forced a tough fadeaway 3-pointer over Allen and Marc Gasol that missed. Even though he was LA’s offensive spark all game, I’m sure he’ll want that play back when he watches the replay and sees Brandon Ingram standing unguarded at the top of the key as he misfired.

Somehow, though, LA had another chance to send the game to OT after Memphis coughed up the ball on an inbounds pass with 15 seconds left. Julius Randle, who had a dreadful night between foul trouble and offensive woes, was fouled on a 3-pointer by Gasol, but missed his first two attempts from the foul line. Just that kind of night for Big Ju.

Somehow, though, LA had ANOTHER chance to send the game to OT (not a typo), when Jordan Clarkson was able to deflect the third missed free throw back to Randle. But after getting the pass back, Clarkson failed to connect on a desperation 3 from the corner, cementing the loss for LA.

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It’s a tough loss to swallow for LA, even considering their injuries and it being their fourth game in five nights, since they had the lead for most of the game and still had an opportunity to steal it in the end. If you guessed turnovers were once again an issue, congratulations. The Lakers had seven more turnovers than Memphis (an 18-11 disparity), and that’s a killer when you lose a one possession game on the road.

Ingram has been solid with the ball all season, but the rook had five turnovers — including three which lead directly to six fastbreak points for Memphis by my count.

Another reason the loss stings besides milking Lou’s masterful shooting was the performances of Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov. Deng had his best game as a member of the Purple & Gold, scoring 18 points on 8-15 from the field, while also collecting four steals on defense. Moz had 13 points on only six shots, and was hosed on a late traveling call that erased a nifty 15 foot jumper. Luke Walton’s reaction was caught by the cameras: “Everyone fuckin’ travels on every fuckin’ play!…so inconsistent.” Get him the Coach of the Year award ASAP.

Still, it feels good to once again experience the pain of a “tough loss.” Think of how far the Lakers have come just since last season. Instead of rooting for lottery balls while watching Kobe clank 20 shots a game and having Byron fold his arms and chastise D’Angelo, this team has you fully invested and even dreaming about a playoff spot if they can actually get healthy.

Game Notes

• Luol Deng Cooked Meter: “Medium.” Tonight’s performance doesn’t erase the first month of the season for the Blue Devil, but it was hopefully a sign of better things to come.
• After John Ireland mentioned it was nice to see former Laker Nick Van Exel on the bench for Memphis, Mychel Thompson said Van Exel, Eddie Jones, and Anthony Peeler helped a young Kobe Bryant when he first entered the league…even though Peeler was traded away before the Mamba played a game for LA. Never change, MT. But hey, a good excuse to think about “1,2,3 Cancun!” again.
• One guy not hurt for the Grizz? Marc Gasol, who had 19 points and eight assists, and essentially kept the Grizz from resembling a pre-shot clock NBA squad along with Daniels.

Next: Who is the Lakers' Future Starting SG?

The Lakers will look to snap their two-game skid when they host the Jazz on Monday night at Staples Center.