Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' road matchup vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. The Lakers tried to extend the win streak at five in a row. But, the missed presence of Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram was too much as the Lakers fell to the Grizzlies 114-123.
It was bound to happen that during this road game stretch that the Lakers would eventually lose a game. I projected that the Lakers would get this winning streak snapped by OKC on Wednesday. But, Zo's injury, B.I.'s injury, it was a daunting challenge for the Lakers to generate some scoring, ball movement, and defense. They did a good job at fighting to the bitter end in this game though. There were some stretches that the Lakers were building some momentum and appeared within striking distance. But, the Grizzlies kept responding with timely buckets of their own and they were creating turnovers to jumpstart their transition game, which was the biggest difference to give Memphis the win.
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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 27 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 8-16 shooting. It's an up and down affair for KCP because he would settle for high percentage looks at times and sometimes, he'll take shots that leave your head scratching. But, coming in, he was gonna have to pick up the scoring since B.I. is missing the game and Lopez continues to struggle. He stepped up to the plate and accounted for a majority of the Lakers' shots from deep with 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Only Kuzma closely followed with 4-8 shooting. Great game from KCP in terms of scoring. He could've had more if it weren't for a couple of questionable shot selections this game.
Larry Nance Jr, 15 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks. Big props to LNJ for playing through the sore back. He got hip checked hard by Deyonta Davis in the first half as he was going for the layup. Luckily, he turned out to be okay and he was still able to provide some hustle and energy off the bench on both sides of the ball.
Josh Hart, 16 points, 5-10 shooting. This is a pretty big headache because when Zo and B.I. come back, Hart is gonna have less playing time. But, when the Lakers are shorthanded, Hart gets valuable playing time and he makes the most out of it. He had a solid game today with his jump shot and his ability to slash into paint for the layup.
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Turnovers/Ball handling. The Grizzlies committed more turnovers than the Lakers 18-13. But, the Lakers could've had more with the way they handled the ball today. Luckily, some of them didn't result in a turnovers. That's where they really miss Lonzo and Inrgam. They handle primary ball handling duties. The Lakers tried to do so, but they kept fumbling with the basketball and the Grizzlies were able to take advantage with the steals. They were marred by bad passes as well. A lot of them were unforced because they put too much air on the pass.
Defense. The Lakers are more than capable of running back on defense when opposing teams are running in transition. They're more than capable of disallowing any space and putting pressure on the ball. That kind of defense lacked during this game. Lakers broke down easily, which lead to many easy layups by the Grizzlies. They gave Memphis all kinds of room to move the ball, run the floor, and hit a couple of shots from the outside or from deep.
Julius Randle, 9 points, 8 rebounds. Randle being non-existent is not entirely his fault. He sat out for the majority of the 2nd quarter mainly because of matchup reasons and how effective the 2nd unit was. He didn't get a lot of touches in the paint. At the same time, he couldn't get a grip on his ball handling. When the Lakers were looking to run with Randle, he couldn't maintain good ball security and could've lead to some easy steals and scores for the Grizzlies.
Brook Lopez, 5 points, 2-7 shooting. I think Lopez should consider finding ways to score more inside. Lopez shots from deep have been way off. He's capable of hitting the three, but he needs to find ways to be aggressive instead of camping outside from beyond the arc.
Jordan Clarkson, 9 points, 2-13 shooting. Clarkson had a good start, but an ugly finish in terms of scoring. He came crashing down today after a solid outing on Saturday against Dallas. Big time off night for JC.
MVP
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 27 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
KCP showed out and picked up the slack in scoring with Ingram missing the game and Randle and Lopez being non-existent. Most of the threes he settled for took some life out of the crowd. The Lakers looked like they were building momentum when he hit some of those threes after they scored a couple of consecutive buckets.
Conclusion
As I said, the 4-game winning streak was fun while it lasted. Would the Lakers have won this if Zo and B.I. were playing? No question, but injuries are part of the game. The Grizzlies were also short-handed and they found a way to win with what they have. The Lakers need more players to step up with their key pieces of the future missing for further reference. Likely, we'll see Zo and B.I. back on the court when the Lakers take on OKC on Wednesday. But, if not, then it presents bigger trouble for the Lakers because the Thunder with their Big 3 ate the Lakers alive in the last meeting. But, the biggest thing from these five games is that the Lakers must continue to compete to the very end, win or lose. They can't afford to embarrassed by Westbrook, George, Anthony, and company for a 2nd time. I'll see you guys on Wednesday for that game.
