The Los Angeles Lakers finally put an end to their drought against the Memphis Grizzlies. Previously, the Lakers were winless throughout the preseason and their poor form carried over to the first two games of the 2021-22 NBA season as well. The purple and gold were handed two consecutive defeats at the hands of the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns.
But every poor run of form eventually ends and it finally happened for the Lakers. The new look team featuring the likes of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and more have now registered the first victory of the season.
The credit for this amazing win goes to Carmelo. The 37-year-old forward was simply hot from beyond the arc in the game. He finished the night with 28 points in just 26 minutes while shooting 6 of 8 from the three-point line.
Melo’s teammate and long-time friend, LeBron James, had nothing but praise for him. He talked about Carmelo’s performance in the post-game conference.
Via ESPN
“He was playing straight up flow and rhythm basketball. To move into ninth all-time on the scoring leaderboard is special. Usually, when some of my friends have these kinds of achievements, I text them or call them or Facetime them and put something on social media. In this case, I got to do it in person because he’s my teammate now. I got to do it in person. That made it special for me.”
It was a special game for Anthony. Apart from helping the Lakers get their first win of the season, he also passed Moses Malone on the list of all-time top scorers in the NBA. Melo now holds the ninth spot with 27,423 points to his name.
The Lakers’ gamble of adding veteran players over young players to the team proved to be right, at least in the context of the game. But as the season progresses, the schedule will only become harder and that’s when the true strength of this team will be tested.
If they can survive that and have a healthy team heading into the postseason, it will be an exciting time for Lakers fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z6-cZz8b-o
