LeBron's 20-20 Vision Lifts Lakers to Overtime Win, 3-1 Series Lead Versus Grizzlies
LeBron James scored 22 points, grabbed a playoff career-high 20 rebounds, and passed for seven assists to lead the L.A. Lakers to a 117-111 overtime win versus the Memphis Grizzlies to take a 3-1 series lead. Austin Reaves paced the Lakers with 23 points, picking up the slack for Anthony Davis, who scored 12 points on 4-13 field goal shooting. Davis had as many turnovers as field goals, but he made his presence felt in the paint with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Desmond Bane scored a game-high 36 points but he shot 13-29 from the field, including 3-12 from three point range as the teams combined to miss 59 three point shots. Ja Morant scored 19 points and tied James for game-high honors with seven assists, but he shot 8-24 from the field.
The Grizzlies squandered a golden opportunity to win this game; they led 83-81 at the end of the third quarter, and they pushed that margin to 97-90 with 5:13 remaining in regulation, but their erratic shooting proved fatal. The Grizzlies shot 7-18 from the field (.389) in the fourth quarter, including 2-11 from players not named Bane. Bane scored 14 fourth quarter points on 5-7 field goal shooting, including a fast break layup with 6.7 seconds remaining to put the Grizzlies up, 104-102. The Grizzlies needed one defensive stop to win the game, but instead of settling for a long jump shot James drove to the hoop and made a high arcing layup with less than a second left to tie the score.
In overtime, the Lakers stopped jacking up three pointers and scored eight points on 4-5 field goal shooting in the paint while the Grizzlies shot just 3-9 from the field overall in the extra session, including 1-5 from beyond the arc. Other game recaps will no doubt wax poetic about D'Angelo Russell's three fourth quarter three pointers without mentioning that he had a -16 plus/minus number before fouling out; the absence of Russell's questionable shot selection and subpar defense helped the Lakers in overtime, and it would be intellectually dishonest to mention three shots that he made without noting that his other "contributions" were major reasons why the Lakers were trailing in the first place.
Four of the nine Lakers who played in this game had negative plus/minus numbers: Davis plus the three players acquired in exchange for Russell Westbrook. The Lakers won this game and are leading this series despite the Westbrook trade, not because of it. Coach Darvin Ham understands this, regardless of what some commentators may say and what some delusional fans believe: D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley did not play at all in the overtime. Granted, Russell probably would have played if he had not fouled out--and the Lakers would have been worse off with Russell in the game.
Here is how the "triumphant troika" did versus Memphis in game four:
Russell had 17 points on 7-15 field goal shooting. He is averaging 14.5 ppg on .368 field goal shooting during this series.
Vanderbilt had 15 points on 6-9 field goal shooting while accumulating a game-worst -18 plus/minus number. He is averaging 6.8 ppg on .579 field goal shooting during this series.
Beasley had three points on 1-4 field
goal shooting. He is averaging 2.5 ppg on .250 field goal shooting in during this series.
Playoff games are won in the paint. James dominated the boards, and during crunch time he drove to the hoop instead of settling for three pointers; he looked less like a stat padder and more like a great player who was doing what needed to be done for his team to win. Davis was a non-factor offensively, but the importance of his presence in the paint defensively and on the boards should not be minimized.
I picked the Grizzlies to win this series, and I may have been wrong about that--but I have been 100% right about what the Lakers need to do to win: they need James and Davis to dominate in the paint. All of the talk about "lasers" and the role players that the Lakers acquired in exchange for a future Hall of Famer are just distractions from the real story.
Labels: Anthony Davis, Ja Morant, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Memphis Grizzlies
posted by David Friedman @ 2:42 AM
2 Comments:
Marcel
Russel hit three big 3's that kept them in game
Vando played great d on Morant at times
Banes for Memphis played well
Ad was ineffective offensively but great defensively
LeBron was good late
Austin reaves been great
Schroeder as well
Memphis can't shoot, and Lakers depth is too much for them
I respect ad battling he a low pain threshold guy out there trying.
Lakers will win this series cause they are the better offensive and defensive team
Memphis flaws have showed. They can't shoot, commit too many turnovers, and are undisciplined
The Lakers have been the best team in NBA since Russel trade
Rob pelinka should get a lot of credit putting this roster together
Marcel:
In this article, I noted that Russell made three three pointers late in the game--and that the Lakers trailed by double digits overall during his time on the court. The Lakers won in overtime after he fouled out. Russell is an inconsistent player with poor shot selection who has yet to prove that he can be a productive player for a winning team. Before you get too excited about his three three point shots, let's see if the Lakers close out the Grizzlies--and, if they accomplish that, let's see how they do against a better team that is at full strength.
Vanderbilt, like the other two players who the Lakers acquired in exchange for future Hall of Famer Russell Westbrook, is an inconsistent role player. He has some good moments, and he has some not so good moments.
The Lakers' fortunes are tied to the health of LeBron and Davis, and the willingness of those two 75th Anniversary Team members to play in the paint instead of drifting around the perimeter.
It is interesting that you mention Memphis' flaws without noting that they are missing two of their best big men and that Morant is playing with a banged up right hand.
Would you agree that it says something about the Lakers that they have to work so hard to beat a team that is, in your estimation, so flawed?
If the Lakers close out the Grizzlies then we will see just how good the Lakers are versus Golden State or Sacramento. The Lakers piled up wins against some injury-limited teams and some tanking teams but still were not able to win enough to avoid the Play-In Tournament, which they barely survived.
The Lakers as presently constituted are overrated, whether or not they beat this injury-depleted Memphis team.
Regarding how much credit Pelinka should get, you have yet to answer the questions that I posed in a previous thread:
Are the Lakers as presently constituted good enough to win a title before LeBron retires?
Are the Lakers as presently constituted good enough to be a contending team after LeBron retires?
If the answer to both questions is "No" (which is how I would answer those questions) then what is so great about their current roster construction? The Lakers are unlikely to win another title with LeBron, and they are likely to be a Lottery team as soon as he retires; they are not well-built for the present or the future.
I am not knocking Pelinka--he is doing the best he can with a dysfunctional franchise in which too many cooks are spoiling the broth, including Player/GM LeBron James--but I don't think that trading a future Hall of Famer for three role players makes Pelinka the Executive of the Year, either.
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