EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Lakers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 94-92, Tuesday at FedEx Forum. Here are three takeaways from the game:
1. It’s always good to have LeBron James on your team. Even at 36-years-old.
On a night where both teams struggled on offense, James turned in a strong fourth quarter to push the Lakers past an undermanned Memphis team.
All he did was string together 8 points and 2 assists in the last 4 minutes to push the Lakers to a 4-0 swing through San Antonio and Memphis.
The Lakers held a slender 80-79 lead when James went to work. He made a turnaround 12-footer, then a 20-footer, fed Anthony Davis for a dunk, and hit a 16-foot fadeaway. He also blocked Brandon Clarke’s floater and, sure, made two free throws.
It didn’t come easy and Memphis didn’t go quietly, but James finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
2. It also helps to have Davis on your team.
He matched James point for point and almost rebound for rebound while continuing to pile up the defensive stats.
In an alert to the rest of the league, he’s also shooting three-pointers. A lot of them.
Davis made 4 of 10 attempts behind the arc to continue his recent surge from deep.
He finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds and also had at least three steals and three blocked shots for a second consecutive game.
3. The three-pointers weren’t falling. The turnovers were mounting. Even the Lakers’ reserves, a source of scoring so far this season, were having a rough night Tuesday.
So the Lakers turned to an old friend. Their defense helped them win.
The defense hasn’t grabbed headlines like it did a year ago, when Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, and Danny Green helped Davis and James form the league’s third-rated defense.
But Memphis shot only 41.3% on Tuesday and scored a mundane 43 points in the second half.
It’s the mark of a good team to win defensively, on the road, when the offense just isn’t there. It happened numerous times last season and it happened again in Memphis.