Without LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell, the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Memphis Grizzlies, 121-109.
Troy Brown Jr. was able to get the Lakers on the board with a tough baseline jumper, but they fell behind early after a Dillon Brooks 3-pointer. The defense for both teams was stifling as they forced the other into several misses, but Anthony Davis gave Los Angeles their first lead after knocking down a pair of free throws.
The lids slowly started to come off the baskets as each squad was able to see some shots go down which led to them trading the lead. However, Memphis’ second unit was able to gain some steam which put Los Angeles down 26-22 at the end of the first.
The Laker bench stepped up to begin the second quarter as Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Wenyen Gabriel and Lonnie Walker all played with great energy. Walker in particular took over the scoring as he dropped a quick eight points to hand L.A. a 37-34 lead.
Davis cranked up the defensive intensity for the Lakers midway through the period as he and the team were able to force 11 consecutive misses from the Grizzlies. Although Los Angeles started to get sloppy with the basketball, Reaves was able to stay perfect from distance with a couple of triples and allowed them to go into halftime leading 49-46.
The Lakers got off to a solid start offensively in the third quarter but the Grizzlies regained the lead because of Ja Morant’s aggressiveness in getting to the rim. It became a back-and-forth affair shortly after, though Dennis Schroder put L.A. up 65-63 after knocking down one from deep.
Morant continued to torch L.A.’s defense with his speed and athleticism, but they were able to respond each time to keep them within striking distance. The Lakers had no answers for Morant who scored 28 points in the quarter and as a result, they went into the fourth down 93-84.
Los Angeles’ defense was non-existent to begin the final period as they allowed Memphis to push their lead to double digits. Walker did his best to keep the Lakers’ hopes alive after burying another 3-pointer, but they still found themselves trailing 110-100.
The purple and gold showed some resiliency as they chipped away at the lead thanks to an 11-2 run keyed by their defense. Unfortunately, turnovers killed the momentum they built up and they would have to live with a self-inflicted loss.
