Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron and the bench overcome Memphis, 5 Lessons

Montrezl Harrell’s energy turned the game around for the Los Angeles Lakers!

LeBron James will get the headlines for closing out the game, but Montrezl Harrell and Talen Horton-Tucker will get a lot of shine in this report. What did they do? When Memphis had the Lakers on the ropes, they provided energy and executed like they actually wanted to play in this game. In short, they competed on defense.

Montrezl Harrell:

As the season goes on, NBA pundits will concentrate on Harrell’s inability to play the big centers in the post season. Lake Show Life sees a non stop energy guy coming off the bench. 

Harrell reminded everyone why he’s the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, collecting 16 points and 9 rebounds (4 offensive!) and 2 steals. Plus he was very physical with Jonas Valanciunas wearing him down. He posted a plus/minus of +12, which was second to LeBron James. When he got in the game, the Memphis offense slowed down.

Talen Horton-Tucker:

Talen Horton-Tucker was an immediate spark to start the second quarter, scoring 5 points while  forcing a turnover to cut into the Lakers deficit. Even though THT did not shoot great, he filled the stat sheet with 6 rebounds (2 offensive!), 2 assists while playing solid perimeter defense. 

These two players set the defensive tone while playing within the structure of the Lakers schemes. After Memphis exploded from 3 point range, they finished the game missing 20 of their last 23 shots from distance. Speaking of hitting long distance shots, let’s talk Wesley Matthews.

Wesley Matthews: 

Let’s connect the dots here.

• Wesley Matthews exploded for 18 points earlier this week hitting six 3 pointers without a miss against the Spurs.
• The next game, he was held scoreless getting only two shots. 
• He comes back strong again scoring 14 points shooting 5-7 from the field (4-6 from three) in 27 minutes.
• Basically Wild Wild Wes can help this team if he actually gets a chance.  

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to win, but Frank Vogel has plenty to worry about. This team is starting to look like past championship teams that have been known to get happy and satisfied. It’s one thing to zone out from game to game, but for it to happen to this level in the same game? These are bad habits can will catch them later.

Lake Show life Lessons will keep pushing this message. The Los Angeles Lakers can get away with games like these 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.

Finally, Marc Gasol was honored with a video tribute in his first appearance back to the old Grindhouse.

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.

Lake Show Life will be extending it’s post-game coverage this season! There will be a short post-game report shortly after the game in addition to the extended post-game of Lake Show Life Lessons! 

More championship coverage for championship fans.