Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers escaped with a narrow victory as they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 109-108.
It was a ragged start for both teams as they had trouble holding onto the ball, but the Grizzlies raced out to a quick 10-point behind some hot shooting from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Lakers looked much like a team playing on the second end of a back-to-back situation as they had trouble finding any rhythm on both ends.
Los Angeles seemed like they finally woke up after an 8-0 run, but Memphis continued to shoot well from downtown as they made all seven of their three-point attempts. Even with a Kyle Kuzma buzzer-beater three-pointer to end the quarter, the Lakers still found themselves down 10 going into the second.
The Grizzlies still had no issues scoring as they seemed to get any look they wanted either in the paint or out on the perimeter. With Avery Bradley and Alex Caruso both out, the Lakers also had trouble containing Ja Morant who got going scoring and passing the ball.
The purple and gold once again looked like they had some life as they went on an 11-0 run behind LeBron James who overpowered the Grizzlies on his way to several drives to the rim. However, Memphis answered with a run of their own and Los Angeles went into the half down eight points.
The Lakers opened up the third quarter hot from the perimeter as they were able to drain a few threes, giving them the lead. Despite cooling down a bit, Memphis still continued to shoot the three well but Los Angeles did a good job of responding with some well-timed buckets of their own.
The two teams took turns trading baskets down the stretch of the quarter with James getting his jumper to go on several occasions. With the team finally playing well, they went into the final period up one.
Rajon Rondo kicked off the fourth with a pair of steals and coasted to two layups to help extend the Lakers lead. However, the Grizzlies once again battled back as Morant accelerated toward the rim for consecutive shots at the rim and helped his team retake the lead.
With Memphis up late in the fourth, Davis and James led the team on offense as the former hit a huge three to tie the game while the latter drove to the rim to swing the lead back in team’s favor.
Only up one, the Grizzlies had an opportunity to win the game but they turned the ball over on the out-of-bounds pass and the Lakers escaped with their seventh straight win.
