The Los Angeles Lakers seesaw to a win over Memphis Grizzlies
By Ronald Agers
The Los Angeles Lakers won their third road game of the season on Sunday.
The Los Angeles Lakers played a Sunday matinee against the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies. It was a homecoming for Marc Gasol as the Lakers started out the game on fire and set their own allowing Memphis back in the game!
Welcome to another episode of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ new hit show, “The Los Angeles Lakers are bored with their opposition”. This game’s guest star was the Memphis Grizzlies. What happened? The World Champs saw a team without Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow and thought it would be a walk in the park.
Only Memphis competes every night and shocked the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season. Barring a total bench effort and LeBron James closing out the game, it could have happened again.
Despite a very valiant effort from the Memphis Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Lakers collected their third straight win closing out the Grizzlies late, 108-94.
Like the back to back games in San Antonio, the story is about this unwritten NBA rule.
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The teams that have the superstars usually win. The Lakers have two and the Grizz has none. Memphis ran out of gas without their top two players in Morant or Jackson Jr.
In the last ten minutes of the game, the Grizzlies also didn’t have any answer for LeBron James scoring at will and the pick and roll action with Anthony Davis in the fourth quarter.
The Good:
The Lakers start to the game. LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma started the game on fire as the Lake Show got out to a sizable lead that forced Memphis Head Coach Taylor Jenkins to call timeout twice in less than five minutes into the game!
LeBron James has had to deal throughout his career that he cannot close at times while deferring to his teammates in Cleveland and Miami. This year, he is looking to take on the challenge of being the closer.
The previous game against the Spurs, he closed the game as a playmaker. In this game, he dominated the last quarter as a scorer. He dominated Memphis with 13 of his 22 points in winning time, including a shot from the logo.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1345898579617959936
Wesley Matthews illustrated an interesting concept in this game. If he can shoot the ball more than once a half, he can contribute offensively. Wild Wild Wes was back in the saddle knocking down four 3 point shots out of six tries. He finished with 14 points.
It can’t be understated how well the duo of Montrezl Harrell and Talen Horton-Tucker. What did they do? They played with energy and executed like they actually wanted to play in this game. When the Grizzlies went on their huge run, it was Harrell and THT who got the Lakers back on track.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1345894443245826049
The Bad:
The Lakers fell asleep after Memphis’ second timeout. The Grizz went on a 27-5 run on the strength of seven shots from behind the arc in ten tries. LeBron stopped getting the ball and Kuzma disappeared until late in the game. The inconsistency of the energy and focus has to be driving the coaching staff nuts.
The scoring contributions from the starting lineup. Outside of Kuz and LeBron, the Lakers got absolutely nothing from the starting lineup in the first half.
Anthony Davis didn’t score until 6:23 of the second quarter and Dennis Schroder didn’t score until about 3 minutes left in the first half. AD started to pick things up late to help close things out but let’s discuss Schroder.
Dennis Schroder needs to come off the bench. Yes, Lake Show Life is on record and will continue the statements. He was wildly inefficient and his perimeter defense gets worse with each passing game.
When Tyus Jones starts giving you the business, it’s time to start looking in the mirror. Please don’t flood the comment section with his stats. They don’t matter. He wasn’t good and it would be nice to watch the man execute on an offensive set.
The Story:
The NBA is one of the classiest business period, not just only sports. The Gasol family roots are deep on Beale Street with not only Marc but his brother Pau. When Marc Gasol made his first appearance back to the old Grindhouse, his old team had a surprise for him.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1345875191251910656
In 24 minutes, Gasol finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 stitches to his face. Some things never change it seems with one of the most physical players in Memphis history.
The Lakers are winning, but Frank Vogel gets paid to worry and he has plenty to worry about. His team has gone from zoning out from game to game to doing so in the same game. Not a good look.
It bears repeating from the last few post-game reports. The Los Angeles Lakers can get away with games like this against teams with no superstars, but they are vulnerable going forward against teams that do.
The Lakers have been caught playing down to the level of their competition in every game since the Minnesota blowout.
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Lake Show Life’s more in-depth breakdowns will come in Lake Show Life Lessons tomorrow. Keep it locked for the only Los Angeles Lakers post-game report with highlights and in-depth analysis.