The Lakers defeated the Grizzlies 120-114 tonight for the second time in a row after beating them last on Friday night as well. During the last free throw of the game, with less than 10 seconds left on the clock, Luka Doncic decided to mess with the Grizzlies players.
With the score 119-114 at the time, only an extremely unlikely miracle could save the Grizzlies at this point. The first requirement of that would be a miss from Doncic at the line.
“Short!… Sike!” Doncic was recorded yelling at the line to alert Grizzlies players as soon as he shot the free throw. He made it a game of two full possessions, virtually beyond the Grizzlies’ reach, thus trolling them at this point.
“Short! SIKE!” 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/GrKE8dL5yi
— Luka Updates (@LukaUpdates) January 5, 2026
Doncic finished the game with nearly a triple-double as he had 36 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists while shooting 10-of-20 from the field (50.0%) and 4-of-10 from the three-point line (40.0%).
While Memphis led for most of the game, the Lakers came up clutch with crucial performances from LeBron James and former Grizzlies player Jake LaRavia.
James scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter after relying on his two-man action with Doncic. In addition to that, he also had 10 assists and seven rebounds while shooting 8-of-14 from the field.
LaRavia had 26 points, five rebounds, and four assists while shooting 9-of-16 from the field (56.3%) and 4-of-10 from beyond the arc (40.0%).
Following the game, Doncic spoke to the Lakers’ reporter, Mike Trudell, on the sidelines and spoke about the game, including these two players.
“I think in the first half, they got a lot of transition points. That’s what we talked about at halftime that we got to get back quicker, and that’s what we did,” said Doncic on how they adjusted their defensive plans at halftime.
“That’s how we got to close games out. We were down four, I think, in the fourth quarter, and we came back and won by six. So that’s what we got to do, Bron and me. But I think Jake was amazing today, DA was good, so props to everybody,” Doncic further added on his two-man action with James to close the game out.
Doncic also pointed out that he only had three turnovers tonight, all of which came in the first quarter, so he took care of the ball more, and the Lakers’ defense tightened up in the second half, and as a result of this, they won.
The Lakers have now improved to 22-11 after this win against the Grizzlies, as the third seed in the Western Conference. They will now move on and face the Pelicans for their next game in New Orleans on Tuesday (January 6).
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies fell to 15-20 and will host the Spurs for their next game on Tuesday as well.
