Los Angeles Lakers: 3 lessons from victory over Memphis Grizzlies

The Los Angeles Lakers started the unofficial second half of the season against a potential first-round opponent, the Memphis Grizzlies. The Lakers guaranteed their first winning season since 2013 with a wire to wire win. Lake Show Life breaks down the game with video analysis in Lake Show Life Lessons.

The Los Angeles Lakers won this game and it doesn’t matter what the scoreboard says. Anthony Davis left the floor with right calf injury and came back to drop 24 points in the second half. To be honest, with the Lake Show making their run for the postseason, nothing else matters. Seriously.

Davis bruised his right calf around two minutes into the game. He was almost immediately sent to the locker room for the rest of the first quarter. After making his return to a standing ovation, he combined forces with LeBron James to keep the pesky Memphis Grizzlies team at arm’s length.

The Lake Show looked like they were going to dropkick Memphis to their next designation on their road trip with a 25 point lead, but they fell asleep twice for lengthy periods of time to allow the lead to evaporate to four.

But when the Memphis Grizzlies got close, the defense shut them down when needed to preserve a 117-105 win. With this win, the Los Angeles Lakers own the season series with one more to go next Saturday.

What was more interesting than the game was the status of DeMarcus Cousins, who was still with the team in the locker room, but was not on the bench to watch the game.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, he is soon to be released to clear a roster spot for Markieff Morris, who was bought out by the Detroit Pistons early Friday afternoon.

Head Coach Frank Vogel declined to comment on the matter. Boogie Cousins hadn’t played for the Lakers since injuring his knee in the offseason, but the plan was to rehab with hopes of returning for the playoffs. Lake Show Life will be on top of the story and will keep you up to date. It is rumored that the release day might be Sunday, stay tuned.

Lake Show Life has a major feature about the decisions this franchise is going to have to make if they are serious about winning an NBA title. At the top of the list will be who will be the playmaker coming off the bench, Alex Caruso or Rajon Rondo. If this doesn’t spell the end of Rondo’s rotation minutes nothing will.

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Lake Show Life will go into the comparisons between the two later, but this needs to be put on the record. At this point in time, Alex Caruso has the bigger upside, he plays better and more importantly, he plays better with his teammates.

If a blog website can make this observation for weeks in post-game reports, it’s time for the coaching staff to close ranks and have a difficult conversation with a veteran that both sides hate having.

This was a really strange game with both JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard getting into foul trouble before the ice even started to melt in Staples Center soda cups in the first quarter. However, LeBron James got into playoff mode and aggressively got the team off to a good start driving the ball to the basket drawing fouls of his own.

Even though this is a win, Vogel and his staff have to get the squad to clean up the constant dependency on the superstars to put away weaker teams. Too many times this season, James and Davis were called on late to close out a game where both should be on the bench icing their knees and resting.

Still, despite the All-Star letdown, the Lakers moved the number up in the left column of the record section to 42-12. They have now won fourth straight, six of their last seven and are sitting comfortably five games ahead of the Denver Nuggets. They will need their rest on Saturday before hosting their hated rival, Boston Celtics in a nationally televised showdown on Sunday.

Before anyone starts talking cocky in the comment section, it should be pointed out, that the Sunday white uniforms don’t always bring out the best in the Los Angeles Lakers.