The Los Angeles Lakers took care of business on Sunday and jumped out to a 1-0 series lead over the Memphis Grizzlies. While there is still a lot of work to do, it is hard to not be high on the Lake Show right now.
Instead of being burned by the injury bug, the Lakers are actually benefitting from the Grizzlies coming down with key injuries. Steven Adams not playing at all in this series is huge and now the Grizzlies may have to play some games without Ja Morant.
Morant hurt his wrist while driving to the basket in the fourth quarter on Sunday. It did not look pretty, and Morant’s latest update would continue to benefit LA. Let’s dive into that as well as the rest of our Lakers news roundup.
Shop LA Lakers gear at Fanatics today and get free shipping with the code 24SHIP.
Lakers news roundup:
- X-rays were negative on Morant’s wrist but the star point guard himself said that his status for Game 2 is in jeopardy. Morant explained that he is in “a good bit of pain” and that he is “pretty numb to everything right now”.
- Former Lakers forward Michael Beasley has been banned from the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs. Beasley, Eric Bledsoe, and others have been accused of being involved in fixing CBA playoff games.
- LeBron James said after Austin Reaves’ masterful Game 1 performance that he always knew Reaves would be successful and mesh well with his game. More surprisingly, LeBron gave credit to former Lakers head coach Frank Vogel for Reaves’ development.
LeBron James: "I've been around the game long enough to know great basketball IQ players and I know the type of players that fit with my game and I knew Austin would be that right away." pic.twitter.com/HzFsLJiFlL
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) April 17, 2023
NBA news roundup:
- After he suffered a back injury in Game 1 against the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly hopeful that Giannis Antetokounmpo will return for Game 2.
- Draymond Green was ejected in Game 2 of the Warriors-Kings series for stomping on Damontas Sabonis while he was on the floor. Sacramento went on to win the game and lead the series 2-0 over the Warriors.
- Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. was named the 2022-23 Kia Defensive Player of the Year. This definitely won’t serve as bulletin board material for Anthony Davis and the Lakers to take it to Jackson in the remainder of this series.