The Los Angeles Lakers were reeling after a demoralizing loss to the Chicago Bulls, but Saturday night presented an opportunity to pick up a significant win against the Memphis Grizzlies. In what felt like an all-around team win, Gabe Vincent set the tone in the first half.
He would put up 15 points and drill four 3-pointers to get the Lakers a double-digit lead. Unfortunately, Memphis would battle back in the second half to recapture the lead, but L.A. responded accordingly to close out the win.
The Grizzlies came in fresh off the firing of head coach Taylor Jenkins so were clearly desperate for a win. After their loss to the Bulls though, Vincent feels the Lakers were just as desperate.
“I mean, I feel like we were desperate for a win,” Vincent said after their 134-127 victory. “So, I really didn’t give a damn about how they [Grizzlies] were. As far as the buzzer-beater goes, I mean we just won one the night before. Sometimes you lose ’em, sometimes you win ’em, you just gotta charge that to the game. There’s a lot of games in a season. We had to come out with the right mentality, we knew we needed a win to try and close out this road trip the right way. Playing for something bigger, just trying to get ourselves back on track.”
Vincent certainly displayed that desperation as he made his impact felt immediately in his first minutes of the game. He credited being aggressive for helping him find a rhythm from distance.
“I think I was just being aggressive early,” he said. “I think I got to the rim early that always helps. We were moving the ball well in that first half and it found me. And I was being shot aggressive and I made some shots, it was helpful.”
Heading into this matchup with the Grizzlies, the Lakers needed this win to keep themselves in the mix for homecourt in the postseason. So there was added juice on both sides and despite it not being perfect, Vincent liked the team’s grit to find a way to win.
“I wouldn’t say it was perfect by any means, but we showed a good level of grit, especially down the stretch. You know our third quarters historically haven’t been the best and this game it wasn’t great either. But, we found a way to rally within it and salvage it and then we closed it in the fourth.”
Now, only eight games remain and seeding may fluctuate up to the final day of the regular season. Picking up a win of this magnitude strengthens L.A.’s chances of staying home in the first round and avoiding the Play-In Tournament, which has been their goal all along.
Gabe Vincent believes Lakers are building an identity
After completely flipping their roster upside down by bringing in Luka Doncic at the trade deadline, the Lakers needed to re-establish an identity. Luckily, there have not been too many growing pains, but there have been disappointing losses.
Despite those, Gabe Vincent believes the team is building an identity, which revolves around defense.
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