They met two days prior to Sunday night’s encounter at Crypto.com Arena, a two-game set between the Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies that is reminiscent of a playoff series, games that usually has the loser of the first one yearning for a win.
The Lakers (22-11) won the first game Friday night here and they knew the Grizzlies (15-20) were going to bring more intensity and a stronger effort even with star guard Ja Morant (with a right calf contusion) not playing.
And that was the case, the Lakers getting down by 16 points in the second quarter, the Grizzlies ramping it up in a big way.
But with Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Jake LaRavia leading the way, the Lakers pulled out a 120-114 win over the Grizzlies.
Doncic almost had a triple-double with 36 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
James had a double-double with 26 points and 10 assists to go along with seven rebounds.
LaRavia had 26 points, five rebounds and four assists. It was the ninth time in LaRavia’s career he has scored 20-plus points in a game.
Back-and-forth the game went in the fourth quarter, with the Lakers and Grizzlies taking turns delivering in the game’s tense moments.
The Lakers finally took the lead for good at 100-99 on a basket by Doncic.
Then James scored on a three-point play and made one of two free throws for a 104-99 lead with three minutes and 49 seconds left.
The Lakers had an answer for every Grizzlies counter, the final stamp on the game being Doncic’s back-to-back three-pointers for a nine-point lead with 2:01 left.
The idea that the NBA scheduled the Lakers and Grizzlies on Friday and then again on Sunday, both of the games in Los Angeles, was not an issue for Coach JJ Redick.
“I like it,” Redick said. “I do think it does replicate [the playoffs] in some ways. A playoff series, particularly when it’s not a home and away situation, but more of you’re playing a two-game series on somebody’s home court for the day in between. Had a few of these last year. So, I like this for our team and it’s a good growth opportunity. Coming off a win, knowing that there’s a lot of stuff that we can be better at and where can we make improvements. That’s the big challenge to me.”
For Redick, that meant what it always does for the Lakers — improving on defense.
Redick wanted his team to get back on defense faster and not let the Grizzlies get so many early-offense opportunities.
The Lakers also wanted to jump-start center Deandre Ayton from a five-game slumber.
Ayton had just four points on two-for-four shooting against the Grizzlies on Friday night. Prior to that, he hadn’t scored over 12 points over a four-game stretch.
So, the Lakers went to Ayton at the outset of Sunday night’s game, trying to ignite his game.
It worked to a degree, Ayton scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
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