LEBRON TAKES OVER GAME
The Lakers hadn’t been moving too well, their legs looking like they were slowed by Rendezvous ribs and Central BBQ brisket. There early lead had quickly turned into a double-figure deficit with momentum in Memphis smoothly f lowing in the Grizzlies’ direction.
Lakers 108, Grizzlies 94
But it was early — and Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins knew what was coming his way. Before the game, he called the Lakers the deepest team in the NBA, and that depth was about to keep the Lakers alive long enough for LeBron James to take over.
It was Montrezl Harrell feasting around the rim. Then Wesley Matthews knocked down open jumpers and Talen HortonTucker did a little of everything as the Lakers clawed back.
And then, with James fully engaged and totally activated, the Lakers surged and re-entered the game, pulling away late in a 108-94 win against the Grizzlies.
“Coming off the bench with that energy and that effort just translates to the rest of us,” James said.
The Lakers’ veteran star was supposed to be easing his way into the season, the short break between last season’s title and this year’s training camp the shortest in NBA history. Maybe he’d sit out some games or maybe he’d pick his spots to look like the kind of dominant player that he’s been for most of his career.
But with the Lakers pushing late in the first half, it was James rushing to a loose ball, beating two Grizzlies players with younger legs who were closer to the rebound. James took the ball, started the one-man fastbreak and scored. The next possession, he ran the f loor after an Anthony Davis turnover, and because of his hustle, he found a wide-open Matthews trailing the play for a 3.
“He sets a tone for this Laker organization, this
team. That’s the standard,” Matthews said of James’ effort. “When the best player is setting and exceeding that standard, I mean, obviously everybody else comes along.”
Sensing that the team needed their stars to finish the Grizzlies, who were without Ja Morant, off, James took over, scoring 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a triple from the centercourt logo that stretched between the two 3-point arcs.
Davis wasn’t as efficient as he was in the Lakers most recent win in San Antonio, scoring six in the fourth, but finishing with 17 points to go with three blocks and three steals.
“We were doing a lot of jostling with Memphis
tonight and just going back and forth. … So at the start of the fourth, I wanted to try to implement myself and my scoring a little bit more. Get a little bit more in attack mode and see if I can kind of open the game up,” James said. “And we were able to do that.”
It wasn’t just the scoring — with James it rarely is. Sunday, he grabbed 13 rebounds, all on the defensive glass, helping the Lakers lockdown the Grizzlies after Memphis’ hot first quarter. After allowing the Grizzlies to score 36 points in the first, Memphis had only 58 the rest of the way.
“We’ll manage his minutes and all that stuff in a responsible way but when he’s out on the f loor, that’s who
he is. He’s as competitive as anybody in the league,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “And 13 defensive rebounds, like, that’s hard to do when you’re not a center. That’s just competitive spirit, wanting to win and being determined.”
It was collaborative, the Lakers’ energy coming from multiple places as they continued to try and navigate the realities – two games in one city, limited people in the stands, the responsibility to create energy on them and them alone.
“We kind of figured it out for ourselves,” Davis said.
In this pandemic season, that’s how it’s almost always going to be.