The Los Angeles Lakers have been a dominant home team to begin the 2024-25 season and they looked to keep their spotless record when they played host to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers had some extra motivation heading into the matchup as they lost to the Grizzlies during their road trip, and they had an excellent opportunity to exact revenge as Ja Morant was sidelined due to a hip injury.
Even though they were shorthanded, Memphis gave Los Angeles everything they could handle as they clawed and scraped on both ends of the floor. The Grizzlies even held a lead in the second half, but the Lakers were able to respond and earned 128-123 victory to remain undefeated at home.
LeBron James has been on a tear since the team returned to Los Angeles and he was once again the leading man on the floor as he did everything on the floor to lead the Lakers to the much-needed win. The Grizzlies had no answer for James who controlled the offense nearly from the opening tip. James was equal parts scorer and distributor, carving up Memphis’ defense and dictating just about everything on the floor.
With the Grizzlies keeping pace with the Lakers, James took it upon himself in the second half to keep them at bay. Ultimately, the King was able to record his third consecutive triple-double after he put up 35 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds. James shot 13-of-22 from the field including 4-of-7 from the 3-point line.
Dalton Knecht had been in a bad shooting slump the past month, but the rookie finally broke out of it with his performance against Memphis. Knecht saw his first couple of threes go down and went on to shoot the basketball with confidence.
Knecht finished the night hitting 7-of-8 of his field goal attempts including a perfect 5-of-5 from three en route to a career high of 19 points. He also added three assists, with one of them coming off a great lob to Cam Reddish.
Anthony Davis was able to suit up despite his eye injury, but labored in the first half with his shot. Despite foul trouble in the second half, Davis found a way to make an impact in the fourth quarter on both ends.
Davis was the team’s second-leading scorer with 21 point and also had 14 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
What’s next for Lakers
The Lakers will have their first NBA Cup on Friday on the road against the San Antonio Spurs before taking on the New Orleans Pelicans in the second night of the back-to-back.
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