It was a packed house in FedEx Forum on Wednesday as the Grizzlies took on the Lakers for the first time this season. As two teams who have faced off in the NBA playoffs before, both sides knew what to expect but the final score fell in favor of the Grizzlies by a 17-point margin (131-114).
The Grizzlies had three players drop 20 points, including Ja Morant who also finished with 4 rebounds and 5 assists (7-17 FG). Jaren Jackson Jr. tallied 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks in the game while shooting 61.5% from the field. Even rookie guard Jaylen Wells was able to score in bunches tonight with 20 points on 5-7 shooting from three.
The Lakers put up a good fight without Anthony Davis but they could not make up for his absence in the middle. LeBron James had his best game of the season so far with 39 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists (15-24 FG) while Austin Reaves contributed 19 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds on 41.2% shooting. Cam Reddish scored a season-high 15 points off the bench to go with 6 rebounds in 25:56 minutes.
The Grizzlies ended the first quarter with an 8-point lead and never looked back. They controlled the game for most of the way through due to a mix of key factors that the Lakers will be thinking hard about for the next two days.
Frontcourt Depth Is A Problem
As Anthony Davis nurses his foot back to health, the Lakers will need someone else to step up and make up for his absence. The problem, as it looked like tonight, is that the Lakers don’t have anyone in the frontcourt who can hold it down without Davis.
Tonight, the Lakers tried starting Jaxson Hayes and while he did contribute some with 8 points and 10 rebounds, it wasn’t nearly enough to lead the Lakers to a win. The Lakers also tried 7’0″ big man Christian Koloko and while he was solid in his 13 minutes on the court he wasn’t nearly impactful enough to change the final result.
So if anything’s become evident over these first few games for the Lakers, it’s that they desperately need some reinforcements at the center and power forward positions. Their lack of depth there is shocking given Davis’ injury history but they still have plenty of time to make a move before February’s deadline.
Lakers Shot 15-48 From Three
In the modern NBA, it’s often said that teams live and die by the three but the Lakers truly lived that line tonight. In typical Lakers fashion, they let it fly from deep — even though they just kept missing. By the final buzzer, the Lakers only made 15 all night on nearly 50 attempts.
Clearly, coach JJ Redick wants the Lakers to shoot and he’s given them the green light to let it fly whenever it feels right. The problem is that the Lakers don’t really have shooters. When Dalton Knecht (3 points, 1-7 FG) and D’Angelo Russell (12 points, 4-12 FG) are struggling as much as they did in this game, the Lakers don’t have anyone to stretch the floor and it becomes impossible for their offense to generate any clean looks.
Tonight, the burden fell primarily on LeBron James to try and drag the Lakers to victory but without his co-star and limited support from the supporting cast, he was only able to do so much on the court.
Only 22 Minutes For D’Angelo Russell
Guard play has always been essential for the Lakers but D’Angelo Russell hasn’t really given them the results they were hoping for. His play can only be described as inconsistent with periods of hot shooting and scoring slumps throughout his career.
He’s the best option at point guard for the Lakers right now but he only played 22 minutes tonight — a season-low for the 1x All-Star. After the game, JJ Redick blamed a lack of competitiveness on his limited playing time:
“Level of compete,” said JJ,” attention to detail. Some of the things we’ve talked with him about a couple of weeks. At times he’s been really good… other times it’s just reverting to certain habits.”
With averages of 12.0 points, 6.1 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game on 38.2% shooting, it hasn’t been the best season for D’Lo and that’s killer for a Lakers team that desperately needs good guard play right now. If he can’t improve, expect Russell to become one of the many names on the NBA trade market this season.
For now, until the Lakers do make a move, the only thing for Redick to do is extend the rotation and learn to lean on some of the other guys for help.
The Lakers play again next on Friday, at Crypto.com arena, against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers at 10:00 PM EST. It will start a three-game home stand for the Lakers with the next two contests being against the Raptors and Grizzlies again on November 13th.
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