The Los Angeles Lakers left Memphis with the series against the Grizzlies tied at one apiece, heading back to Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers ultimately lost Game 2 of this first-round series 103-93 for a few reasons.
However, without a doubt, the most prominent reasons were the Lakers made too many costly mistakes and missed shots. In addition, the Lakers made a massive mistake in their game plan before the game had even started, and that was having Anthony Davis guard Jaren Jackson Jr. One of the biggest reasons why having Davis on Xavier Tillman in Game 1 worked is because it allows the former to be a roamer and be arguably the best rim protector in the NBA while also impacting the defensive glass.
You combine that with the Lakers making countless careless mistakes on both ends of the floor via turnovers or blown defensive coverages and that’s a recipe for a Game 2 letdown, which is what we would see. A Lakers team that couldn’t get out of their own way playing against a more desperate Grizzlies team without Ja Morant. There was still a ton of good to be found throughout the game though.
Game 2 Breakdown
The Lakers had a challenging time guarding this “Wide Elbow Split” action against the Grizzlies in Game 2. The Grizzlies ran this play three separate times (per my tracking) and scored six points off those possessions. With the Lakers “top-locking” the Grizzlies shooters, Memphis runs this action and Desmond Bane does a great job just slipping the screen, leading to a wide-open layup. With Davis camped out on the perimeter guarding Jackson, this leads to an open layup.
This is one of my favorite offensive possessions from the Lakers in Game 2. The Lakers were looking to score in Early Offense. Lakers go to their “Pistol/21” series, and it leads to Austin Reaves being able to dribble penetrate and we get some excellent ball movement leading to a Rui Hachimura pull-up mid-range jump shot. This was one of the few times it seemed that the ball was really moving, quite similar to what we saw in Game 1.
In the second half, we finally saw the Lakers adjust as they decided to have Davis matchup with Tillman. I’m not incredibly excited to see Jarred Vanderbilt being used as a drop coverage big right here, and I would’ve much preferred the Lakers just switch this action or have Russell go under the Dillon Brooks screen. Because of this, the Grizzlies can create an advantage and Jackson looks as if he has an open look at the rim. However, Davis can impact the play and deflect the ball, ending the Grizzlies’ possession. Possessions like this are why you can argue for Davis as the best defensive player in the NBA when healthy.
Heading into the series, they had some apparent tendencies when scouting the Memphis Grizzlies’ defense, especially when looking at their ball-screen defense and post-up defense. On post-ups, they would almost always double or load up help from the baseline. While on ball screens, they will always help from the weakside wings on drives via stunting, trying to force kick-outs, and stopping the drive. I can confidently say throughout the first two games, the process from a preparation and tactical standpoint has been very encouraging.
To help counter this ball-screen defense from the Grizzlies, the Lakers have shown a few different counters, including “pin-in flares,” “45” cuts, or just simply hitting shots. Hachimura has feasted off this coverage throughout this series, and we have yet to see the Grizzlies adjust to it. On the Reaves drive, David Roddy commits in the lane, leading to an open Hachimura 3-pointer.
The Lakers have started to double-team Jackson more in this series, which I’m a massive fan of. The Grizzlies’ offense drops considerably when Jackson gets doubled on his post-ups. However, you have to be incredibly sharp with your weakside rotations. You can’t afford these careless mistakes if you’re the Lakers. The Lakers double from the first pass away, which, while it can work, I’m not a big fan of it. Dennis Schroder rotates a step late and doesn’t get enough of a closeout on Luke Kennard, which leads to the open triple.
The final clip of the breakdown features the Lakers running one of my favorite sets to get Anthony Davis a touch on the move. With the Grizzlies’ top-locking Davis, Russell does a good job flipping his screen, allowing the former to reject it and finish the easy dunk. I would love to see the Lakers go to this play more frequently throughout the series.
Although the Lakers lost Game 2, I feel that from a process standpoint, there was a lot of good to be found, and the Lakers corrected a few pivotal mistakes made schematically. As a result, I feel really confident heading into Game 3 as long as the Lakers can stay out of their own way.
