The Los Angeles Lakers headed back to FedEx Forum looking to close out the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Getting that fourth and final with of a series is always the hardest, and that proved to be the case as the Lakers were unable to get a road win, forcing a Game 6 with a 116-99 loss. The Lakers and Grizzlies will now play on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena as L.A. has another chance to close out the series.
As was expected, the Grizzlies came out with a lot of energy early in front of their home crowd with Desmond Bane leading the way again offensively. Unlike Game 4 though, the Lakers established Anthony Davis early, getting him touches inside. Davis also beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer to give him nine early points, but the Lakers still found themselves trailing midway through the first.
Rui Hachimura came in and made an immediate impact with six quick points off the bench, but Bane and Luke Kennard were red-hot and the Lakers went into the second quarter trailing 38-24.
The pace of the game was really fast early on, leading to some silly turnovers for the Lakers. LeBron James also struggled from outside early, whereas Bane continued carrying Memphis offensively with jump shots. Even Dillon Brooks got in on the action from deep, putting his team up 17.
At that point, the Lakers just needed to chip away before halftime, and they did just that with an 8-0 run. Davis had an incredible block on Jaren Jackson Jr. and then finished a three-point play to cut the deficit to single digits at 61-52 going into the halftime locker room.
After a quiet first half, D’Angelo Russell caught fire to begin the third with a personal 8-0 run to quickly get the Lakers back within one. Ja Morant also got going for his team though with five straight points, including a triple, to get the lead back to six.
Things got away from the Lakers again from there as the Grizzlies closed the third quarter on a 19-2 run to take a 94-76 lead. The Lakers struggled on the glass, and Memphis’ role players got hot from deep again while Morant also got in on the action.
The Grizzlies continued their run into the fourth quarter, scoring seven straight to extend their lead to 25 before Malik Beasley responded with a 3-pointer. It was too little, too late though as the game had already fallen out of reach. The Lakers got back within 12, but that was it as the Grizzlies closed out the victory.
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