The struggling Los Angeles Lakers came in to Memphis looking for their second victory of the season against the top seeded Grizzlies. The Lakers hung into the game for the most part but lost in the end 107-102.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points, seven rebounds, and six assists on 10-for-26 shooting. Kobe passed John Havlicek for most missed shots ever with 13,421 misses. Mike Conley was the leading scorer for the Grizzlies with 23 points. Before the game, Byron Scott said that he was concerned that Conley will hurt them the most, and he was correct.
The Lakers played the Grizzlies closely, only down four points at halftime. The Grizzlies were hurting the Lakers with offensive rebounding in the first half, giving themselves second chance opportunities.
The Grizzlies bench came in to this game as the second worst in the league, but they had their best game of the season, scoring 38 points compared to Lakers’ 14 bench points. However, the Lakers bench was thinner with Wayne Ellington absent due to his father passing away in Philadelphia.
The Lakers cleaned up the rebounding in the second half and were able to tie the game after a Jeremy Lin and Jordan Hill give and go play. At the 4:35 mark of the game, however, Mike Conley completed a huge four-point play, plus Byron Scott was called for a technical foul which gave the Grizzlies an extra point during that possession and suddenly the Grizzlies built a seven-point lead and regained the momentum.
Memphis finished the third quarter with an eight-point lead, 83-75. Vince Carter came alive late in the quarter as he hit a couple of jumpers. The Grizzlies stretched their lead out to 17 in the fourth quarter with Kobe on the bench and 6:50 remaining in the game. It seemed like the Grizzlies had full control, and the game was all but over. That was not the case.
The Lakers battled back in this one. Kobe Bryant hit a three with 5:16 remaining to cut the lead down to 10. Jordan Hill then followed with back to back scores, and the lead was sliced to six. Fast-forwarding to the final two minutes, Bryant hit another three to cut Memphis’ lead to three with 1:32 left but on the other end, Conley drew a foul and drained both costless throws to push his team’s lead back to five.
After a Kobe Bryant missed three-pointer, the Grizzlies had the ball but threw it away. Wesley Johnson came away with the steal and finished the play with a two handed dunk. Up 105-102 with 37 seconds remaining, the Grizzlies called a timeout but were unable to inbound the ball as they were called for a five-second violation.
The ball came back to the Lakers, who were supposed to run a play for Kobe but instead, Jordan Hill took a 21-foot jumper and missed. With 27 seconds left, the Lakers opted to play defense and not foul, but Zach Randolph, who struggled in this game, came up with a huge offensive rebound and put back with five seconds remaining, and that shot sealed the game.
Outside of Kobe, the Lakers received great production from a handful of other players, including 20 points and eight rebounds from Carlos Boozer, 15 points from Wesley Johnson, 13 points and 14 rebounds from Jordan Hill, and 12 points from Jeremy Lin.
Beno Udrih and Kosta Koufos were magnificent off the bench for the Grizzlies. Koufos scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, and Udrih put in 16 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Marc Gasol quietly put up eight points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. Zach Randolph chipped in with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Grizzlies don’t blow out teams, but they get the job done and have now improved to 7-1 on the season, tied for the best record in the league with the Toronto Raptors. The Lakers drop to 1-6, which is the second worst record in the league.
The Los Angeles Lakers will head to New Orleans tomorrow, November 12, to play the Pelicans. The Grizzlies will clash against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, November 13.