Lakers take over in the 2nd half and move their win streak to 7 games with win over the Grizzlies.
The Lakers had another slow start and looked completely sluggish early in tonight’s victory, but they were able to completely turn things around in the 2nd half and finish strong to take down the Memphis Grizzlies 115–105. Tonight’s win gave the Lakers their 21st win of the season and kept their win streak alive with an NBA best 7 games.
You have to give credit to this young Grizzlies team because they came out hot to start the game tonight. Memphis started on a 20–2 run against this Lakers team and they were making everything in the first half.
The lakers completely changed things around in the 2nd half starting off the 3rd quarter on a 7–0 run and a huge three from LeBron to end the 3rd quarter put the Lakers ahead by 5. The start of the 4th quarter is where the Lakers extended their lead going on multiple double-digit margin runs.
The Lakers had 4 players in double figures in the scoring column tonight with 3 of those players finishing with 20 or more points. Lebron James and Anthony Davis combined for 63 points. Much needed performances from both LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers are 4–0 when LeBron James and Anthony Davis combine for 60 points or more.
LeBron James recorded 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, finishing 9 for 15 (60%) from the field. Before tonight’s game, James played a whopping 130 minutes in the previous 3 Lakers games that went into overtime. Tonight James played 34 minutes, which is okay for LeBron James but head coach Frank Vogel has emphasized the monitoring of the minutes for LeBron, who is 7th in the NBA in minutes per game. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said he was trying to be accountable for LeBron’s minutes saying:
“Within those minutes, we want to win every damn possession.”
So far in the month of February, Lebron James is averaging:
26.8 PTS
9.8 ASTs
8.4 REBs
2.0 STLs
50% FG%
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel was asked by the media about LeBron’s 2nd half run tonight saying:
“You’re watching greatness.”
The Lakers were happy to have Anthony Davis back tonight, giving this team a dominant performance on his night back. After starting the game 0 for 6 from the field Davis didn’t look back, scoring a game-high 35 points on 16 of 27 (59%) shooting and 9 rebounds in the final box score.
Anthony Davis was out the past 2 Lakers games as he was dealing with a right leg Achilles soreness telling the media, it’s not his tendon just soreness in the Achilles area. Davis said he had soreness towards the end of tonight’s game and it sort of bothered him late in the game. He was grateful Vogel got him out for the last two minutes, saying he’ll get treatment tomorrow and see how it feels for Sunday.
The Lakers bench has been one of the biggest reasons they are currently on a 7 game win streak. The consistent, energetic surges from the bench this season has been helpful for LeBron James and the starting unit. Tonight the Lakers bench had 41 points, which is 5 straight games the bench has scored more than 40 points. In 5 of the 7 games in this Lakers win streak, the Laker bench has finished with more than 40 points.
One player who absolutely needs to get praise tonight is Kyle Kuzma. Ever since Kuzma signed a three-year $40M contract extension he has completely been a different player. He has accepted a new role as an important role player. He has been a spark plug as an active defender and tenacious rebounder.
In tonight’s victory over the Grizzlies, Kyle Kuzma finished with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds in 32 minutes. Kuzma finished 8 for 14 (57%) from the field goal and had a +/- of 21 on the night. This is Kyle Kuzma’s 7th double-double of the season with 10+ points and 10+ rebounds. Kyle Kuzma spoke with Mike Trudell after the game and talked about his role for this Laker team:
“I just try to find ways to bring energy to the game.”
Montrezl Harrell also had an impactful night off the bench for this Lakers team, finishing with 14 points and 7 rebounds on 4 of 8 (50%) shooting.
Harrell left the game early in the 4th as he took a hard shot from teammate Kyle Kuzma on a lay-up and quickly headed to the locker room for concussion protocol. He came back to the bench towards the end of the 4th and sat out the rest of the game. Tests came back negative, he just got shaken up on the collision with Kuzma.
With tonight’s win, the Lakers now move to a record of 21–6 and are still in 2nd place behind the 21–5 Utah Jazz. The Lakers will now travel to Denver on Valentine’s Day this Sunday to face the 14–11 Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets are coming off a two-point win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and will look to snap the Lakers NBA best 7 game win streak.