The Los Angeles Lakers returned to the court and hosted the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, looking to stay undefeated at home and win their third straight game overall.
The Lakers lost to the Grizzlies in Memphis last week so were looking for a little payback. Anthony Davis missed that game but was back in the lineup for L.A. while Ja Morant was out of this one due to injury. As a result, the Lakers were able to get their revenge, earning a 128-123 win to improve their record to 7-4.
L.A. got off to a nice start after back-to-back 3-pointers by Rui Hachimura and Cam Reddish. Austin Reaves then got it on the action and Hachimura hit another to put the Lakers up 16-7.
Reaves, in particular, was playing well early, coming up with a steal and a layup while also getting his teammates involved. After back-to-back 3-pointers by LeBron James, including one to beat the buzzer, the Lakers led 38-26 at the end of the first.
Scotty Pippen Jr. was Memphis’ best source of offense is his return to L.A., but James was still hot as he made another triple to keep the lead at double digits.
It was a poor close to the half for the Lakers, however, as they cooled off and committed some costly turnovers. After a pair of free throws by Zach Edey, the Grizzlies fought all the way back to cut their deficit to 65-64 going into the halftime locker room.
The Grizzlies’ run continued into the third quarter with them scoring eight straight points before a three-point play by James. After Luke Kennard drilled a triple to put his team up 79-71 though, JJ Redick called a much-needed timeout.
Davis wasn’t able to contribute much on either end as he picked up his fourth foul and then eventually his fifth, heading to the bench.
With both Davis and James on the bench, the Lakers needed some sort of spark to close the third quarter and they got it from Dalton Knecht, who got hot and closed the gap to 96-91 going into the fourth.
Knecht stayed hot to begin the fourth with another 3. He then found Christian Koloko for an alley-oop to tie it at 96. James went into attack mode from there and the Lakers regained the lead, although both teams were back and forth for a bit as it remained closed going into the final stretch.
After sitting on the bench for a while due to the foul trouble, Davis came back in and hit a big triple. The Lakers began to take control from there as James threw down a thunderous dunk and then Davis buried another 3.
While Jackson tried to will his team back into the game late, Reaves knocked down a dagger 3 to close it out.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers now hit the road and open up Emirates NBA Cup group play on Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs. They then will take on the New Orleans Pelicans in the second of a back-to-back on Saturday.
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