The Los Angeles Lakers were unable to capitalize against the Memphis Grizzlies who were missing Ja Morant, dropping Game 2 in a lackluster effort.
The Lakers came out flat to start the game, allowing the Grizzlies to grab the early momentum, which they never let go of. Although Los Angeles still goes home with a win under their belts, this was a golden opportunity to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Darvin Ham was disappointed with the rough beginning, but still categorized their road trip as a success, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, I think we came out a little lethargic in that first quarter. A little irresponsible with the ball, some unforced errors. I think in the first quarter we have five turnovers that gave them in turn 10 points. But from that point on, I thought we clawed and we scratched and we fought. Defense…as the game wore on the defense got better and better and we just need to have that mentality at the start of the game.
“At the end of the day, obviously we wish we could’ve got this one as well, but that’s a hell of a team over there. Really, highly competitive ball club. I said it before the game, there’s a reason why they are who they are with or without Ja. Still a huge storage full of talent and guys that play the right way, play hard and play together. So my hats off to ’em, they came out had a hell of a performance, they played with a desperation, a sense of urgency. Obviously we were able to get Game 1, unfortunately we didn’t get Game 2 but having a split nonetheless is a good trip. We just have to go home and defend our home court.”
Despite the loss, Ham emphasized that there is plenty of series left:
“Pretty sure if this was the NCAA Tournament, my mood would be a lot different. But it’s the first to four, not the first to one or two or three. We anticipated a really grueling a series. This team, again, it’s the reason why they are who they are. Have a lot of pride, the high, high, elite competitive spirit, an extremely talented roster so we knew we were gonna have our hands full with this matchup.
“But again, we were able to do some great things in Game 1. Game 2, not so much, didn’t start off the right way. But we kept at it, kept competing and holding this team to 103 points even without Ja is a hell of a defensive effort. I’m sure AD will play better, DLo will play better, we had a lot of guys who had some tough nights from the field and I don’t see that happening too many more times. We just gotta go back, go back to the drawing board and really look at the game, investigate it closely and see where we can get better, the things we did well defensively as the game wore on and try to sustain the defensive effort that we had in the last 3 quarters and try to be better offensively. And first and foremost, not hurting ourselves with unforced turnovers.”
It’s the glass-half-full take and perhaps the correct one given that each team still needs to win three more games to advance. Los Angeles had a rough game, but they’ll have opportunities to prove that they’re better than this Game 2 showing.
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