Well, the Lakers fell short in a tale of two halves. The Grizzlies were able to trip up the Lakers in a game that ended in a wacky manner, 103-100.
Memphis was depleted as they were without Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Chandler Parsons, Vince Carter, and James Ennis. The Lakers, who were playing their fourth game in five nights, were without Nick Young, D’Angelo Russell, and Larry Nance, Jr. Early in the game, Jose Calderon pulled up lame. He left the game with a right hamstring strain.
The pace was frenetic in the first half. The Grizzlies did their best to keep up as Troy Daniels (fourth-year player out of Virginia Commonwealth) had the green light to shoot from the outside. With Julius Randle in foul trouble, Lou Williams and Luol Deng (playing at the 4!) carried the scoring load. While Daniels surprisingly led the Grizzlies with 23 points, Lou was scorching with 28 points in the first half.
The Grizz slowed the game down and the Lakers, with the possible combination of fatigue and the Memphis defense, succumbed to a lot more isolation and one-on-one plays. Memphis was able to bear down and cause turnovers in the halfcourt. Still, Lou and Lu stayed hot in the fourth. Luol Deng played his best game as a Laker with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals. Lou Williams went for 40 points on 20 shots.
It was a little back and forth before Troy Daniels made a key three to give Memphis a four-point lead. Marc Gasol would follow it up with a sweeping hook before Williams made a three-point play. After a Grizzlies miss, Lou put up a quick three that missed badly with 20 seconds left on the game clock and 16 on the shot clock. In the ensuing possession, Deng stole the inbounds pass. Randle got fouled on a three-pointer by Gasol with 5.9 seconds left. Julius missed the first two free throws before missing the third on purpose. Still, the Lakers got the offensive board but Jordan Clarkson missed a corner three. Memphis got away with the win.
We can look at this as a schedule loss. They might have ran out of gas; we know how much the Memphis defense can take out of teams in addition to the Lakers playing their fourth game out of five nights. The Lakers only scored 38 points in the second half and only Timofey Mozgov scored double digits (13 points) other than Lou Williams and Deng. We hardly saw the ball movement that Coach Luke Walton preached in the second half. We all know the Grizzlies like the grit and grind. Grounded. Grimy. Gross. Growl. The Lakers turned the ball over 18 times.
You’re probably not familiar with most of the Grizzlies players other than Marc Gasol and Tony Allen. Gasol did a lot of playmaking (19 points, 8 assists). But you gotta watch guys like JaMychal Green (16 points, 13 rebounds), back-up point guard Wade Baldwin IV (7 points, 9 assists), and the aforementioned Daniels (31 total points!). Just because you’re not familiar with them doesn’t mean you should just leave them firing away. There were so many breakdowns defensively by the Lakers in the second half. It could be fatigue or whatever but Memphis is not going to blink an eye and feel sorry for them just because their opponents are tired.
Just remember that the Lakers got beat by this guy:
I will always remember Troy Daniels as an NBA 2K avatar. A news station didn't have a real picture of him. pic.twitter.com/U5o33MYRNg
— Rey-Rey (@TheNoLookPass) December 4, 2016
No disrespect intended, Troy. You played a hell of a game. For tonight, Elvis Presley is not the king of Memphis and neither is Jerry Lawler. It’s Troy Daniels.
It’s back to the Staples Center on Monday after a 1-3 road trip for the 10-12 Lakers. We’ll see if they can get it right against the Utah Jazz.
_Craig W says
This was a really bad night for Julius Randle. Not just the fouls, but he seemed a little lost on the floor. He was repeatedly in the wrong place at the wrong time, hung out directly under the basket for rebounds, didn’t move sideways well on defense. Sure there were many other problems, but Julius and Jordan seemed to want to rely on 1-on-1, instead of movement by the team – tired legs and minds, I guess.
bleedpurplegold says
16 to 32 assists, that pretty much tells the whole story. Time to start huertas instead of calderon, maybe that’ll help moving the ball better….13min and 7ast, nearly half of our teams total
Still a great season so far, but we need to get back moving the ball better
A Horse With No Name says
Randle was flat out gassed. Definitely a schedule loss. Who knows, Larry plays and maybe they get the win. Too bad, it was there for the taking. I told my son that Marc Gasol would be tough down the stretch; and of course he was clutch
KevTheBold says
Luke Walton: “The disappointment’s in losing, sucks,” Walton said. “You don’t want to lose. We’re a young team with injuries. It’s more important that we focus on the fact that the fourth game in five nights our guys competed their tails off.
“Instead of focusing on the disappointment of the loss, I’m gonna focus on the positives of the way we got after it tonight.”
I like this coach !!
wwlofficial says
The 1st game after a roadie, is considered a road game.
Busboys4me says
Constantly beaten on the defensive end, caused mismatches covering for him defensively, would not shoot when open and took much time looking for the perfect assist (ala Rando).