Even with superstar LeBron James out due to injury, the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves in a winnable game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. Austin Reaves was one of a handful of Lakers to step up in LeBron’s absence, providing both a scoring and playmaking boost off the bench. But in the end, the team came up short.
The Lakers led at halftime, but Ja Morant exploded in the third quarter for 28 of his 39 points and L.A. just couldn’t quite recover in the fourth as they ultimately lost by 12 to Memphis. But the main culprit for the Lakers loss was not anything the Grizzlies did, but rather their own self-inflicted wounds.
The Lakers turned the ball over 26 times in the loss, regularly gifting Memphis easy baskets in transition and after the contest, Reaves pointed right to that as to why they left Memphis with a loss, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“That was the game. Any time you turn the ball over 26 times… for 41 points, that’s like spotting a team basically 41 points. So I think they had what, seven turnovers, nine turnovers, I think we only had nine transition points or points off turnovers. That’s the game right there.”
Reaves had four miscues in the contest as he was a bit more aggressive with the Lakers down their top two playmakers. In addition to the 41 Grizzlies points off turnovers, Memphis also finished with 33 fastbreak points. With the team’s margin for error so thin without LeBron, there is simply no way they could possibly overcome that level of carelessness with the ball.
The Lakers also gave up 14 offensive rebounds and overall wound up shooting 26 fewer shots than Memphis on the night. Even when playing good defense, the sheer volume will eventually catch up. This team is still getting used to each other with so many new additions, and Reaves understands that’s a process, but believes the Lakers must learn from this performance:
“Like you said it’s a little difficult, just cuz we’re a fairly new team to one another, but we gotta get it quick and this will be a big learning experience for us. We can go back, watch this film, and kinda see the mistakes we made, talk it out, have real conversations with one another cuz that’s the only way we’re gonna get better.”
The Lakers will have to keep getting better and learning each other on the fly. It won’t be easy, but it’s the only way this team will accomplish that goal of getting in the playoffs.
Darvin Ham says Lakers mission hasn’t changed despite injuries
With James out for the foreseeable future and now Anthony Davis once again dealing with a minor injury, the road for the Lakers has once again gotten even more difficult. But regardless of the injuries, head coach Darvin Ham insists the goal has not changed for this team.
Ham spoke prior to the Lakers’ contest against the Grizzlies and revealed that he told his team that the mission has not changed, regardless of who is on the court. The Lakers will continue to push for that playoff spot despite the obstacles being thrown in their way.
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