Lakers declaw Grizzlies behind strong defensive showing

Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and LeBron James led the Lakers to one of their best wins of the season against the red-hot Memphis Grizzlies.

The Lakers picked up one of their best wins of the season on Sunday, taking down a Grizzlies team that came in riding high with a wire-to-wire win, 116-110.

After opening up a 23-point lead, the purple and gold endured a second-half comeback from Memphis, much of it coming after Anthony Davis briefly exited the game with an injury, before holding on late.

The Grizzlies shot just 38.3% from the field and turned the ball over 19 times. Only the Lakers’ 20 turnovers and poor free throw shooting kept Memphis in the game.

As we’ve seen AD do many times against the Grizzlies, he was dominant. He ended with 40 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. LeBron James, who had missed two games, tallied 18 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks.

Austin Reaves pitched in with 19 points and eight assists. Cam Reddish did the dirty work with two steals and eight points. After getting the start, Max Christie scored seven points while playing terrific defense throughout the night.

AD and LeBron started things off for the Lakers in a fiery way. AD scored four straight points, giving the Lakers the lead early. LeBron began to heat up, dunking the ball with authority and then following it up with a chase-down block at the other end. AD also blocked a shot which led to a layup for LeBron.

The Grizzlies took a while to get started, but when they did, they tied up the game. Austin went down the lane, faked a pass, and converted on a layup to put LA back up.

AD hit a 3-pointer, giving Los Angeles an eight-point lead. The Lakers limited the Grizzlies to just 20 points in the quarter and led by 10 at the end of the first.

Dalton scored all five points for the Lakers to start the second period. Both teams played sloppy basketball, turning the ball over and missing shots. Cam played excellent defense but struggled with scoring the ball.

Austin came back into the game and drilled a 3-pointer. Cam finally converted on a shot when he stole the ball and scored on a dunk. The lead ballooned to 15 for the purple and gold.

The Lakers’ defensive effort was great, better than they’ve defended the last several games.

Memphis was living at the free-throw line, which was good for them considering they were shooting 27% from the field. The Lakers were battling more than usual with rebounding, up to 23 to the Grizzlies 21.

LA’s lead extended to 22 on the coattails of AD, who was still dominating offensively. The Grizzlies were able to shave some points off the lead.

At halftime, the Lakers were up 18. They held Memphis to their lowest-scoring half of the season with 46 points.

The Lakers started the second half the same as the first half with a shot by AD. Memphis still struggled with their shot and couldn’t find good offense, aside from Jaren Jackson Jr., who was up to 19 points. The Lakers extended their lead back up to 22.

Although it wasn’t necessarily harming their production early in the night, LA was again committing terrible turnovers. Memphis was playing hard enough to shed some points off of Los Angeles’ big lead. Ja Morant and Desmond Bane bumped up their offensive production. LeBron got into double figures after a 3-pointer.

AD injured his shoulder while chasing down a loose ball. After trying to give it a go, he asked to sub out and went to the locker room.

LA tried to cling onto momentum as long as they could. The Grizzlies mounted a massive comeback with a 19-5 scoring run to keep them within striking distance to give themselves a chance in the fourth. At the end of the third, LA was only up nine.

The final frame began with both teams scoring, but there was sloppy play with some missed shots and turnovers. LA was still holding onto a nine-point lead ever so desperately. Austin got some contact when he drove down the lane and converted on an and-1.

AD returned to the game, and, after laboring a bit early, swished a step-back jump shot to score his 30th point of the night.

LA was back up by double digits with seven minutes left in the game. The Lakers would have to kick up their defense because the Grizzlies were still playing well despite being down.

Both teams were starting to trade baskets and Memphis was inching closer because they were converting on 3-pointers. Ja singlehandedly tried to wheel the Grizzlies even closer, making it a single-digit deficit.

Jaren fouled out with 4:12 left in the game by fouling AD, who made both free throws. The game turned into a foul and challenge battle with the game being staled multiple times. The Lakers were holding onto a seven-point lead.

LA went on a four-minute scoring drought until LeBron scored a layup. A jump ball with 27.2 seconds left ended in success for the Lakers with a dunk by AD to secure his 40-point game.

The final exclamation point for the Lakers was a dunk by Rui Hachimura.

Key Takeaways:

Hello, defense! It was nice to see you, please stay and never leave.

STOP THE TURNOVERS! Turnovers turn a great game into a sloppy one very fast. TO’s have been the bane of the Lakers' existence.

AD had the team on his back and played like the MVP we know he is. It was an immensely dominant game for him.

Max played outstanding defense on Ja all game long. His shot has been looking better as well. He’s been getting closer and closer to being the player the Lakers expected to see after extending him during the off-season.

The Lakers’ next game will be Thursday against the Sacramento Kings at 7:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.