The Los Angeles Lakers closed out their quick two-game road trip on Friday night against the Memphis Grizzlies in their first group play game of the Emirates NBA Cup.
The Lakers welcomed both Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart back to the lineup, and they both made big impacts in what wound up being a 117-112 victory for L.A. to improve its record to 4-2 on the young season.
Doncic began the season on a heater with 43 and 49 points in the Lakers’ first two games before he went down with multiple injuries. He looked like he didn’t miss a beat in this one though as the superstar put together another 40-point performance with 44 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on 14-of-27 shooting in 39 minutes of action.
After a lackluster second quarter, the Lakers turned it on in the third quarter and never looked back.
Austin Reaves has stepped up big time in Doncic’s absence and he put together another solid game in this one. Reaves finished with 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal on 5-of-14 shooting.
Outside of the two stars, everybody did their part for the Lakers in the victory. Smart impressed with his all-around play, filling up the statsheet with 12 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals. He made a number of big defensive and hustle plays for L.A. against his former team.
He wasn’t the only former Grizzly on the court as Jake LaRavia was as well, and he contributed 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 23 minutes off the bench.
Point differential is the tiebreaker in the Emirates NBA Cup so both teams fought hard until the end. The Lakers ultimately came away with the victory, but it was only by five points so they will have to take care of business in the rest of their group play games to ensure they advance to the knockout stage.
One thing to keep an eye on moving forward will be the status of Deandre Ayton. He did not play in the second half due to what appeared to be a back injury. The center was deemed healthy enough to return, but JJ Redick left him on the bench with the rest of the team handling business in the second half.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will now return home and host the Miami Heat on Sunday night in the first night of a back-to-back before heading back on the road to take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
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