The Memphis Grizzlies embarked on a two-game road trip Friday night, facing off against the reigning NBA champions, the Los Angeles LeBron James Lakers.
It started out great, with the Grizzlies coming out strong in the first quarter and going on a 22-2 run. They were able to hold the Lakers to just 16 points in the first quarter, a testament to good Grizzlies defense and bad Lakers shooting.
Unfortunately, it was mostly downhill from there. Los Angeles outscored Memphis by 2 points in the second quarter, so the Grizzlies carried a strong 13-point lead into halftime. One might think this would bode well for the Grizzlies, but one would be wrong, very wrong. The Lakers outscored the Grizzlies 41-23 in the third quarter, and 28-23 in the fourth.
Here are a few places it went wrong for the Grizzlies:
Free Throw Disparity – The charity stripe was not so charitable to the Grizzlies, who attempted just 19 free throws compared to the Lakers 33. Lebron James should be in the running for an Oscar nomination after his performance. The greatest basketball player in the world shouldn’t need to flop like he did, but here we are. Note: This isn’t even me being salty, James was issued a warning on Saturday for flopping Friday night.
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James received a warning for violating the league’s anti-flopping rule Feb. 12 vs. Memphis. pic.twitter.com/NovQbnBEE0
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) February 13, 2021
Grizzlies Fall to Lakers 115-105
Turnovers – Good ball security was clearly not on the agenda, as the Grizzlies gave up 29 points off 17 turnovers.
Rebounds – The Grizzlies lost the battle of the boards, 47-33. Particularly disappointing was how badly the disparity was in offensive rebounds (13-6) which predictably led to a glaring disparity in second-chance points (21-11).
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies continue on to the second stop on this two-game road trip, where they will be facing off against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night. Tip-off is at 9 PM CST, so caffeinate accordingly.
