LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 4-19-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Splitting on the Road... The Lakers offense sputtered tonight as they fell 103-93 to the undermanned Grizzlies team.

They opened the game with a poor 2-12 shooting in the first 7 minutes. Doubled up 22-11, they tried to dig out of that hole all night long.

The Lakers trailed by as many as 20 in the third, but ran off a 17-3 run to reel the Grizzlies back in.

Several Lakers had subpar offensive outings as the shooting and pick-and-roll game left a lot to be desired. Meanwhile, the second unit continued to struggle with the JJJ matchup against our smaller defenders. The starters got outworked and outhustled by Xavier Tillman who led the Grizzlies with 22 points on 10-13 shooting (and had 5 offensive boards).

The Lakers couldn’t get closer than 6 points in the fourth quarter. When Tillman secured another offensive board and the Grizzlies hit a three late, that was that.

They had a chance to take two games in Memphis but the poor guard play offensively and AD coming up with just 13 points on 14 shots was too much to overcome.


LeBron -- -- I liked some of the things they did late in the game to get him the ball in the paint before a double could come. That allowed for some easy ones. They made sure they cleared out any help from the backside and he overpowered defenders there. The three ball was awful. Some settling, for sure. The paint was pretty clogged at times depending on the lineup. He made sure he took advantage of no help when we had a few transition opportunities off steals or blocks. We’ve got to mix up the second unit lineups when he and Rui are out there manning the C spot. After the game, Dillon Brooks called LeBron old. That’s a strategy. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 12-23 shooting (1-8 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 39 minutes. He was a -17.

Davis -- -- At the end of the third, he was 2-12 from the floor. He had a late three that inflated the scoring in the fourth. Really weak offensive outing as he missed a lot of chippies around the rim and we did a poor job executing offense for him. Certainly, he drew some doubles as had some passing out of that, but very little going downhill or at the rim with speed. We finally ran a corner action that we do when we can’t seem to get him going and he had a dunk off the backdoor action there. Defensively, I wanted to see him matched up more with JJJ instead of letting him score with ease against our second unit. Where the Lakers really got outplayed was Tillman’s 22 on 10-13. Just out-worked. The team looked better when he was able to stay in the paint defensively. But we are not getting much interior D anywhere else from anyone that is currently playing. We got to have a dominant AD game here soon on the offensive end and maybe get some Grizzlies in foul trouble. I want to see those double-digit FTAs that show us when he’s super active. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-14 shooting (1-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 3 assists, 5 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -4.

Russell -- :non: -- Really, really poor game from DLo. He was non-existent out there. If they can hide Kennard on you defensively, you aren’t playing the game like you should. He made his second hoop, a bank, with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter. Defensively, he sagged off Kennard in the corner and gave up a three. Meanwhile, he can’t score on iso against him and our general pick and roll game was really poor tonight. Big letdown in this one. Hopefully, we get a bounceback at home. Any kind of reasonable game from him makes a huge difference. The absolute duds don’t help his contract negotiations. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-11 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 7 boards, 4 assists, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +1.

Reaves -- -- Not his usual efficient self, missing some of those easy ones in the midrange and even a drive that he’s normally pretty automatic on. He also struggled a bit from the freethrow line. Not a great game, but he contributed. Frankly, if we just got mediocre games from a few people, they are fine. His best play of the night was a pushout of a rebound, going behind his back and then scoring an And-1 in the paint after getting sandwiched by a couple of players. He was only given credit for 1 turnover, but I thought he had 2. One was an unforced dribble between his legs on the sideline that went out of bounds. The other was losing the handle on the ball as he attacked the paint. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-12 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -4.

Vanderbilt -- -- With no Ja in this one, he took over on Jones (10 points on 4-11 shooting and 8 assists). Some good moments when they would double one of our stars and Vando would get open in the paint for a score. Also some good work on the offensive glass. He had the team-high +8. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (4 offensive), 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +8.

Schröder -- -- Nothing from Dennis scoring-wise in this one. Our PG spot in 46 minutes scored 5 points on 2-14 shooting. Just atrocious offensively. Rare when we have both Russell and Schröder not clicking, but that happened tonight. Some issues ball handling tonight and unforced, too. He had a double-dribble in transition. He also lost the handle after a hesi, as well. Just a mess. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -13.

Hachimura -- -- Having him try to handle JJJ just isn’t working. There were a couple times he gave up drives and layups. In the post, easy score for JJJ. We’d send some help and it would lead to a score away from the double. It’s causing problems. I thought we’d work on making some adjustments here since we got killed previously, but we double downed. Offensively, he had 20 points after three quarters. He sank a couple of threes, including a big one late in the third when the Lakers were making a run to try to reel in the Grizzlies. He missed both his shots in the fourth. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting (2-4 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 32 minutes. He was a -7.

Beasley -- -- He swished a wide open three for his one make behind the arc. He had a layup when he rolled to the paint and the Grizzlies didn’t switch. No other stats. No rebounds, steals, assists. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a -6.

Brown -- :blink; -- Scoreless, missing his only attempt -- an open corner three. He did have a steal defensively to get a stop. But he also gave up an offensive board tap out that led to a score. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -8.

Gabriel -- -- He came in for the final minute. The Stats: He had 1 turnover and 1 foul in 1 minute. He was a +0.

Walker IV -- -- Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats in less than 1 minute.

Bamba -- -- Nothing to report. Really wondered if we might not see a little mix up with our back up bigs to slow down JJJ against them. The Stats: No stats in less than 1 minute.

Christie -- -- Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats in less than 1 minute.

Harrison -- -- Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats in less than 1 minute.


Ham -- -- Key Moment: “We got one already so we cool,” Ham said in a huddle in the middle of the game. Odd speech to give the team. Maybe you are trying to loosen them up? I don’t know. Focus on the moment. Try to get the win. The team did rattle off a run late in that third quarter when they often play some of their best ball.

Key Substitution: I hate seeing JJJ going up against our Rui/Bron duo in the second unit. There’s no reason you can’t match AD up with him when he’s on court. When you don’t have to worry about Ja, even less reason. We are just getting torched in that matchup.

Key Stats: Lakers offense was stuck in the mud a bit. They shot 7-26 from three, the Grizzlies were 11-36. Lakers had a 20-9 advantage on points off turnovers (Lakers had 13 turnovers, Grizzlies 10).

[RhodyRay]

[ocho]

[tox]

I feel like the Lakers have bigger defense issues than just JJJ when AD is out. Bane had 8 points in like 2 min when AD went out. JJJ did score 7 points with AD out (just checked the play by play) in the 3rd/4th as well, but still. I don't remember us having this many problems defensively without AD before -- is it due to no Wenyen? Think the LeBron/Rui thing is just not working. I don't want to know what our defensive rating is without AD so far

[DrDent]

Another great summary DB

You picked out lack of interior d minus AD…an achilles heel for this team. Bottomline after watching tonight, its not if, but when that cuts off this season for this team. No way they grabbing a ring when teams can chew them up inside like that if AD not in there. I just hope the FO figures out how to fix that.

Otherwise - unsurprised. Like I said before I dont expect much from them at the moment. Hopefully they win a few more games.
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"One thing I admire about Kuzma is his unwavering confidence. He truly has no idea that he’s not as good as he thinks." - Killer_Z

[joeblow]

Oh man, I cannot describe how much I *hate* LeBron's offense a lot of the time in this phase of his career. A huge part of his -17 in the +/- rating tonight was in the second quarter where it was him, another forward and three guards (terrible defense), but he just kept jacking up those ugly long range bricks!

OK, I understand he cannot both play effective defense and attack the basket physically all game long, but how about giving it to one of the other BETTER shooters instead while you rest on the court? Sooooo frustrating.

[JerryWest_44]

“Asked after Memphis’ 103-93 victory why he’s going at James verbally, Brooks responded, “I don’t care, he’s old.” ” USA today

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2023/04/19/dillon-brooks-calls-lebron-james-old-lakers-grizzlies/11701714002/

[PLATNUM]

Pathetic effort.
But par for the course for this mentally and physically soft team.
Should have stepped on their throats and ended the series... Instead...they bent over and grabbed their ankles and gave them life. So sick of these guys.
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"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[Startrout]

I actually really liked some of the plays we ran down the stretch to get the ball right at the rim. Unfortunately, Memphis is a very good defensive team and just plain out hustled us. We missed a ton of shots we normally would make, but again I give their defense the credit, they had us rushing shots and off balance the whole game.

[Nobody]

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB, thanks for the writeup!!

Grizzs knew that if they go down 0-2 at home, their playoffs are done - Ja or No Ja!!

This was a "Trap Game" and Ham's comments/acceptance that they already have one game at home puts him a lower status (hopefully, just at this time) of coaches such as Riley, Pop, Erik Spoelstra, Steve Kerr and others. Would Mike Budenholzer give the same comments?

Lakers need a refresher course on the "Black Mamba Mentality!" This team is still finding/seeking the needed mental toughness to be consistent winners.

Having an opposing team beat them in a game that they just played better with far greater energy is one thing. Beating oneself, needlessly careless and not taking an opposing roster with the proper respect - the Basketball Games will inflict their wrath who don't value every game they play

With DLo and Schroeder throttled, is it because they are unable to consistently provide the required efforts to be consistent winners or is Ham not placing them in the proper position to exceed. The P.C. answer is that it is a little of both, does the responsibility lies with the player or coach.

How many games in a row can this team play with the prerequisite URGENCY on defense - then offense.

Is it the responsibility of AD to demand the ball in areas on the court where he knows that he has the best chance to be effective and LBJ to get him the ball with offensive options. Is it the responsibility of AD & LBJ to have the team focus to avoid careless mistakes and playing with focus/energy

Anticipate that the next game, being the team's first playoff game at home with a live crowd in many years, expect the team to play with great energy. It is the fourth game that is even more important to see if this team is a legitimate title-contending team (in addition to giving back the home court advantage because they were lazy in the second game).

[unleasHell]

The Griz were 16-25 on the Road this season, hopefully, this game did not provide some spark and they revert back to their losing ways in games 3 & 4...

Scoring-wise, AD, DLo & Schroder ALL need to bounce back to at least their averages...

Lakers 3-pt shooting should improve at home also...

No need to worry ........yet!
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“Always remember... Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.”

[A Mad Chinaman]

Without Morant, Grizzlies Lean on Dogged Defense to Even Series vs. Lakers
Memphis once again showed the resilience that earned it the No. 2 seed as it picked up a critical win before its first-round series heads to L.A.
https://apple.news/ALsf01dn3TOu-kcFJ5BTMtg

For all of Ja Morant’s fabulous talent, the strength of the Grizzlies’ team had little to do with him. For 82 games during the regular season Memphis stood as one of the NBA’s top defensive teams. First in defensive field goal percentage. Second in defensive rating. Fourth in defensive rebounds. So with Morant out for Game 2 of the Grizzlies’ first-round series against the Lakers with a hand injury, Memphis leaned into what it does best.

The Grizzlies beat Los Angeles 103–93 on Wednesday, evening the series. Memphis held L.A. to 41.2% shooting. The Lakers connected on just 26.9% of their threes. The Grizzlies switching defense repeatedly forced L.A. to take shots late in the shot clock. Memphis forced 12 turnovers and, after getting soundly outrebounded in Game 1, edged the Lakers on the glass 49–47 in Game 2. The Grizzlies led 30–19 after the first quarter and never trailed again.

“First quarter they got the best of us,” said D’Angelo Russell. “Never allowed us to get any rhythm from that point on.”

“They were desperate,” said Austin Reaves. “They played harder than us.”
After Anthony Davis scored 22 points in Game 1, Memphis made challenging Davis more a priority in Game 2. “They bumped up their physicality,” said Lakers coach Darvin Ham. The Grizzlies, led by Xavier Tillman and Jaren Jackson Jr., battled Davis as he tried to establish post position, forced him into tough catches and crowded the paint when he made them. Davis finished with 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

“I like the shots I took,” said Davis. “I just missed them. A lot of shots close to the rim. Flush it and get ready for [Saturday].”
The Lakers backcourt didn’t fare much better. Russell was held to five points on 2-of-11 shooting. Dennis Schroder went scoreless. Reaves, the star of Game 1, was limited to just 12 points in Game 2. “I told the guys afterwards,” said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, “when we lock into our game plan we’re probably going to get the results that we want.

LeBron James, matched up with Dillon Brooks much of the night, scored 28 but was just 1-of-8 from beyond the three-point line. The battle with Brooks has been predictably physical through the first two games of this series. Brooks, who stared down James multiple times in Game 2, has worked to get under James’s skin. Asked if he felt he owed James more respect, Brooks told reporters, “I don’t care. He’s old … I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40 [points].”

Without Morant, the Grizzlies needed an offensive spark. They got it in Tillman, a third-year forward. Tillman played sporadically in the first half of the season. To stay sharp, he reportedly twice asked for demotions to the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies G-League affiliate, to get live game playing time. When Steven Adams went down with a right knee injury in January, Tillman rejoined the rotation. He averaged 10.2 points per game after the All-Star break. In Game 2, Tillman racked up 22 points (on 10-of-13 shooting) and 13 rebounds, winning the battle with Davis.

“You couldn’t write this,” said Tillman, laughing. “It’s humbling. It lets me know that no matter what I’m going through, it will always pass. I just saw a video about it yesterday. Life is like a wave. On your wave you’re feeling good, and then it might crash. You might be down for a little bit waiting for your next wave to come. But it will come. That’s how life works. As long as you keep working and keep trusting everything you’re putting in it will come to fruition. It did. It’s crazy though, I’ll tell you that.”

In beating the Lakers, the Grizzlies continued one of the NBA’s most bizarre trends: They are good without Morant. Wednesday win improved Memphis to 33–17 without its star point guard over the last two seasons. Tyus Jones (10 points, eight assists) is arguably the NBA’s top backup point guard and in Game 2 the Grizzlies had five players chip in at least three assists.

“It’s a great description of the depth of our team, the resilience of our team,” said Jenkins. “We battled this throughout the regular season the last two years. Now two playoffs in a row. The guys know what our DNA is. We compete together.”

That may have to continue. Morant’s status for the remainder of the series is uncertain. Jenkins said Morant is “still battling some soreness, a little pain.” He wore a wrap around his right hand on the bench on Wednesday. With Memphis off until Saturday, Jenkins said he is hopeful Morant can return “sooner rather than later.”

The challenge remains significant without him. The Lakers didn’t sound panicked after a Game 2 defeat. “I’m pretty sure if this was the NCAA tournament my mood would be a lot different,” said Ham. “It’s the first to four not the first to one or two or three. We anticipated a really grueling series.” L.A. seized home court advantage, while the extra rest should help James and Davis, too. A sold-out crowd will file into Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, the first time the Lakers—who won the title in the bubble in 2020 and were allowed limited attendance during the playoffs in 2021—will have a full house for a playoff game during the James/Davis era.

“There’s always room to improve,” said James. “It’s a 1–1 series. Both teams feel like they can win on each other’s [home] floor. It gives us no comfort that we’re going home. Game 3 is the most important game of the series. If we’re not uncomfortable going into that game, they can very easily come on our home court and take the series back.” 

[danzag]

Our offense is (bleep) right now. A lot of ball watching

Not enough movement
No energy

[wolfpaclaker]

[LakerLanny]

Grizzlies have some very unlikeable guys.

Desmond Bane for instance is a classless fool.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[tox]

One thing to note is that the Grizz did a lot of drop coverage against AR who just killed them as he has done all seasons. Looks like they adjusted their game plan, and he didn't have the same impact.

People forget the Grizz went 35-6 at home. It was going to be a monumental ask to go 2-0, even with Ja (and Adams and Clarke) injured. It was a winnable game and that sucks, but onto the next one.

Also gotta give props to Tillman for having the game of his life.

[LakersMDGurl]

[Halflife]

the rest between 3 & 4 is greatly reduced. We need to smash early in game 3.
_________________
Kobe.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Clw9scopegx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[ocho]

[LakerSD]

[Halflife]

[Halflife]

[forzaCOREA]

I am starting to get annoyed when AD will say, "this one is on me".

Does he think by taking the blame for the L he is doing some sort of service and he sleeps better at night? Like cmon dude.. please string together some good games goodness.

[Halflife]

Game 4 will be the tell. I fully expect us to annihilate them in game 3. Its how they come out in game 4 that will define us going forward.
_________________
Kobe.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Clw9scopegx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=