The Los Angeles Lakers played their second game of the In-Season Tournament on Tuesday night, hosting the Memphis Grizzlies in a rematch of last year’s playoffs.
The Lakers welcomed LeBron James back to the lineup after a one-game absence due to a calf contusion and he was able to help the team earn a 134-107 victory over the Grizzlies to improve to 2-0 in the In-Season Tournament and 6-5 overall on the year.
Anthony Davis picked up where he left off against the Grizzlies in the postseason as he had four early points and two nice blocks on Jaren Jackson Jr. The Grizzlies were hot from deep early though, connecting three times before James got in on the action from deep with two of his own to put L.A. up 15-9 going into the first timeout.
It seems that there is no love lost between these two teams after last year’s playoffs as Davis got into a bit with Santi Aldama after being pushed and then returning the favor. They got double technicals and then Desmond Bane got in Davis’ face, causing a little skirmish. There were five technicals in all handed out but no one was ejected and play resumed.
Coming off the bench, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura got going quickly by each draining triples although the latter gave it right back by committing a flagrant foul, going into the landing space of Aldama on a 3-point attempt.
Hachimura responded with two more buckets though and then Davis finished a putback, giving the Lakers a 37-26 lead at the end of the first quarter.
David Roddy came in and made an immediate impact for the Grizzlies with a pair of triples early in the second quarter.
Outside of that though it continued to be all Lakers as Cam Reddish drilled two corner 3s to extend the lead to 58-40.
The Grizzlies made 12-of-27 3-point attempts in the first half but it didn’t matter as the Lakers made 11-of-20. D’Angelo Russell got in on the action with a pair and the Lakers stretched their lead to 74-51 at the half.
The Lakers picked up where they left off to begin the third quarter as Reddish and Taurean Prince both made 3-pointers to stretch the lead even more.
Memphis actually went on a little run to cut the deficit to 21 before Darvin Ham called a timeout and then James restored order with a 3.
Russell went nuclear from there with 12 straight points for the Lakers although the Grizzlies went on a run to end the third quarter, cutting their deficit to 107-86.
Reaves began the fourth quarter with another triple to keep things comfortable for the Lakers. The last thing they wanted was to have to bring Davis and James back in with another game scheduled for Wednesday, but that wasn’t necessary as Hachimura and Reaves continued to score to put the game out of reach for good.
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