The Los Angeles Lakers went into Sunday night’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies as underdogs. Memphis was the No. 2 team in the Western Conference and playing some extremely good basketball, while the Lakers had slipped all the way to No. 10 with only three wins in their previous 11 games. But head coach JJ Redick seemed to have a good gameplan and the Lakers seemed to execute it well.
The Lakers were in control most of the game, taking a double-digit lead with a big run in the second quarter and never ceding it. The Grizzlies won the third and fourth quarters, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the gap they had created in the first half. Anthony Davis was dominant and, while it was by no means a pretty game, the win was well-earned by L.A.
Redick was proud of the intensity that the Lakers played with on the defensive end and how they stuck to the gameplan. Even though the game had ugly moments, there was plenty to like on the Lakers side of things.
“Against those guys, you have to play as hard as them at the very least to have the chance to win,” Redick said. “I thought our guys did that. I thought our gameplan discipline was really good.
“You know, in terms of the physicality, this is not a comment negative or positive on the officiating tonight, but it was a strange game just in terms of the way I feel like the game has been refereed going back through the start of the season. It was a strange game. It was a lot of fouls and some of the physicality they’ve allowed.
“It just didn’t feel like we had that tonight which potentially led to some of those turnovers, particularly on the offensive end with some offensive fouls and vice versa. But I thought just in terms of what we were trying to do defensively, we did a really good job. Max Christie in particular on-ball was fantastic tonight.”
Redick then zeroed in specifically on the turnovers, saying that it was uncharacteristic of L.A. to have unforced errors like that against the Grizzlies.
“I don’t like the turnovers, which we’ve been pretty good at for most of the year. I think our two highest turnover games prior to this were against Minnesota, which not that it’s explainable but you can envision a scenario where you have a high turnover game against them. Memphis, again, plays very hard and has some disruptors. But some of the turnovers were a little unforced.”
L.A. turned the ball over 23 times, which would be their second game in a row turning it over 22 or more times. But Redick is right in that it is very unusual of this Lakers team to do that. But that, coupled with the defensive intensity and a great offensive game from Davis, allowed the Lakers to walk out with the win anyways.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis not worried about shoulder
One scary moment during the Lakers’ game on Sunday night was when Anthony Davis appeared to injure his left shoulder reaching for a loose ball. He stayed on the floor, but then went to the locker room shortly after. He returned to the game later and looked relatively unphased, and described the injury after the game as a stinger.
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