One week after the Memphis Grizzlies delivered a convincing victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, the teams will clash again on Wednesday.
The Grizzlies face the Lakers in Los Angeles this time, and the game will have a decidedly different feel from the one last week, when Memphis was a runaway 131-114 winner.
Ja Morant was one of three Grizzlies with 20 points in the victory, but he departed in the third quarter due to a hip injury and has not played since. Considered week-to-week, he has no timetable for his return.
With Morant a mere observer, Memphis still won its past two games, averaging 131 points in those contests. The most recent victory came Sunday on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers by a 134-89 count, as Jaren Jackson Jr. posted 20 points as one of seven Grizzlies scorers in double figures.
The 45-point winning margin was the fourth largest in Memphis franchise history.
It was the third consecutive game the Grizzlies had seven players score in double figures, all victories, and Jay Huff tied a franchise record for a bench player with six blocked shots. The Trail Blazers made just four of their 42 shots from 3-point range (9.5 percent).
The impressive victory, led by Jackson on both the offensive and defensive ends, not only came without Morant, but Desmond Bane (oblique) and Marcus Smart (ankle) were also unavailable.
“Regardless of what our lineups are, I want (Jackson) to still carry that mentality of being a primary attack guy for us, and that’s on me to make sure that he’s feeling involved,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said.
The Lakers ended a rough 1-4 road trip with the loss at Memphis, but they have been better upon their return home. Los Angeles beat the Philadelphia 76ers 116-106 on Friday, then earned a 123-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. LeBron James recorded his third triple-double of the season, and second consecutive, in the Sunday contest by supplying 19 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds.
Anthony Davis scored 22 points but left in the third quarter after he was poked in the eye. He will return to face the Grizzlies on Wednesday.
“There’s nothing I need to do,” said Davis, who also had eye injuries twice toward the end of last regular season but has no interest in wearing protective eyewear. “The next step is getting some more sleep and getting ready for (Memphis).”
Los Angeles guard D’Angelo Russell, who was moved into a reserve role after the road trip following some early-season struggles, missed practice on Tuesday due to an illness.
While Los Angeles struggled on its road trip, it is 5-0 at home to begin the campaign.
Accused at various points of his career of not being assertive in some late-game situations, James continues to cite the appeal of seeing his teammates have success. It apparently never gets old, even after 22 seasons.
“That’s always been my basketball pleasure, being able to just kind of read the game and put the ball, like I said, for guys to just be able to just catch, shoot, layup, dunk, whatever it is,” said James, who is averaging 23.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.9 assists less than two months away from his 40th birthday.
