Los Angeles Lakers survive slow start and run by Memphis Grizzlies to win

The Los Angeles Lakers wanted to close out with a win against the Memphis Grizzlies to not only close out a clean sweep of the homestand but to clean a dirty taste of three overtimes out of the Lakers Nation’s mouth. The Lakers won the game and finally did it in 48 minutes!

The one thing the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t going to do was go to overtime for the fourth straight game. That wasn’t going to happen. Why? At the beginning, it looked like they were going to get blown to Colorado to get ready for the Sunday night matchup with the Denver Nuggets.

They were down 22-2 at the start of the game. No this is not a typo. The jokes were out all over social media. L.A. Times Lakers writer Don Woike had the best one of them all.

But a combination of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, the Lakers bench and Dillion Brooks’ mouth turned a 20 point deficit into a 115-105 win. The Lakers sweep the five-game homestand and go on the road. They have won seven straight games in possibly the weirdest fashion in NBA history.

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

Anthony Davis AFTER he missed his first five shots:

AD obviously had his mind on his Achilles early just trying to get acclimated with fade-away jumpers and floaters. After his first five misses from the field, he allowed the Grizzlies turnovers to jumpstart his offense by running the break.

He hit six shots in a row that extended to a ridiculous 11-of-13 in one stretch. AD destroyed the Memphis Grizzlies finishing with 35 points and 9 rebounds. His 4th quarter demolition job of the Grizzlies zone defense was comical to watch.

Somebody angered LeBron James: 

• First, it was that Cleveland Cavaliers executive…
• Then it was Courtside Karen in Atlanta…
• Now Dillon Brooks…

LeBron James and Dillon Brooks have history this season when Dillon Brooks knocked LeBron to the floor in Memphis scoring a basket and yelling “AND ONE!”. In the second quarter of this game, Dillon Brooks said something going to the bench with his third foul. It was heard numerous times from LeBron…“Let me get him…let me get him”. 

By the end of the third quarter, LeBron was on fire and the Lakers were ahead.

Lake Show Life fun fact: Leave LeBron James alone. He can erupt if angered! He finished with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

The Los Angeles Lakers bench didn’t play well…they played outstanding!

Nearly every bench player of consequence had close to a +20 plus/minus ratio. That is ridiculous folks. When the Lakers fell into a Grand Canyon-sized deficit, it was Montrezl Harrell, Alex Caruso and Kyle Kuzma that kept things from getting really ugly if that’s even possible considering the Lake Show was down 22-2.

Kyle Kuzma:

Kyle Kuzma beat the Grizzlies with his activity on the glass finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. His plus/minus ratio was +21

Montrezl Harrell:

Montrezl Harrell almost got knocked out by Kuz with an elbow, but he provided the energy that comes with him just putting on a Lakers uniform. He finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds.

His plus/minus ratio was +15.

Alex Caruso:

Alex Caruso showed why this team needs him in the lineup. He scored 2 points, but his defensive presence turned the game around early and his playmaking (6 assists!) just make the Lakers a different squad. His plus/minus ratio was +24.

The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

The entire first quarter:

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies started a basketball game. Then the Grizzlies ran off to an 11-0 lead. Then LeBron James scored the first two points for Los Angeles. Then Memphis went crazy with yet another run. Jonas Valanciunas threw Marc Gasol in a broom closet scoring at will. He had 11 points before ESPN had cleaned up their audio problems.

Then Alex Caruso hit Kyle Kuzma with a pass for a slam dunk. The score at this point? 22-4.

The Lakers finished with a season-low in points scored in the first quarter falling behind 31-16. They had six turnovers and going further would be beating a dead horse. Lakers Nation is a smart crowd so elaborating at this point is overkill.

Man the Los Angeles Lakers turn the ball over a ton: 

It’s one thing when the Lakers turn the ball over (11 in the first half alone!), but it’s another when the Grizzlies turn them into immediate points. The difference in the game was Memphis started turning the ball over more in the second half while the Lakers took better care of the ball.

The Lakers starting backcourt was terrible:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is officially back in a slump and Dennis Schroder played yet another inefficient game. Marc Gasol probably will score less than double figures for the rest of the season. But when he outscores the backcourt COMBINED!!!! This should say enough. Thank goodness Alex Caruso made this a nonfactor in the game.

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

Superstars win games and both of the Los Angeles Lakers’ franchise players in Anthony Davis and LeBron James went nuts in this game. When they missed shots, it seemed that Kyle Kuzma would just fly around the rim and give Memphis trouble. Finally, Alex Caruso was back in the lineup to give Frank Vogel an option when his starting backcourt did not show up.

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.