LOS ANGELES — One of the biggest sources of frustration for Lakers coach JJ Redick during the team’s recent slide has been the lack of carryover.
Whether it’s remembering after-timeout plays (ATOs), improved transition defense, player availability or simply playing hard – a season-long emphasis for a team that oftentimes struggles in that area – the Lakers have lacked on-court consistency for several weeks.
But one thing they have consistently done is win close games, which they achieved again on Sunday night when they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 120-114, at Crypto.com Arena.
After trailing by eight points at the end of the first quarter and as many as 16 in the second, the Lakers kept chipping away at their deficit. And they did what they’ve done best all season, once they got close: thrive in clutch minutes.
Led by Luka Doncic (36 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) and LeBron James (26 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds), the Lakers outscored the Grizzlies 22-15 in the final 5:12 of Sunday’s victory.
The Lakers outscored Memphis 37-27 in the fourth.
“In the second half, we started to crack the code a little bit,” James said. “Was able to get the lead down in the third. They kind of broke away a little bit again, but we just kept at it out there and was able to have a great fourth quarter.”
The Lakers (22-11) improved to a perfect 12-0 in games that feature clutch minutes – when the score is within five points in the final five minutes.
Sunday’s victory was just the second time since the beginning of December that the Lakers have won consecutive games after they beat the Grizzlies on Friday.
Forward Jake LaRavia, once again starting in place of the injured Rui Hachimura, finished with 26 points, five rebounds and four assists.
“Particularly that first half, his aggressiveness and confidence was really good for us,” Redick said. “The thing that we’ve tried to really instill and coach him on all season is point-five decision making, being catch-and-shoot ready.
“If you are attacking a closeout and you have an advantage, maintain the advantage and both of those things require confidence and requires aggressiveness. Just a fantastic game from him. Another good game from him defensively as well, with deflections and being disruptive.”
Sunday was LaRavia’s ninth career 20-point game, and his fourth with the Lakers. He also scored 21 points in Friday’s win against the Grizzlies, one of his former teams.
“I’m just trusting the work that I’ve been putting in recently,” LaRavia said. “Obviously, the shot was struggling early on and Coach was telling me, and players were telling me, just keep shooting the ball. They trust me. I trust myself, so it’s really about going into the game and doing it.”
Deandre Ayton added 15 points (6-of-8 shooting) and eight rebounds, while Jarred Vanderbilt had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists off the bench.
Ayton was coming off scoring four points and attempting just four shots on Friday against the Grizzlies, both of which were season-lows in games in which he played at least 15 minutes.
And with Redick sensing frustration from Ayton in light of his lack of touches offensively, the coach encouraged his team to get Ayton more involved.
“Bigs can’t feed themselves,” Ayton said. “I just try my best to do what I can to bring effort, and I trust my playmakers out there to find me.”
And the Lakers were more successful in that area on Sunday compared to Friday.
“I’m always looking for D.A.,” James said. “And we’re always trying to figure out a way we can get him the ball. It’s unfortunate how what happened last game, and we weren’t able to find him as much as we want to, but we was able to make the adjustments. We [saw] how they were playing the pick and rolls. We [were] able to find him in the spots, and he made the most of it. But big time player for us, and we needed that punch from him.”
With star guard Ja Morant sidelined with a calf injury, the Grizzlies (15-20), who have lost four straight games and six of their last eight, were led by Jaylen Wells (23 points). Rookie guard Cedric Coward added 16 points and eight rebounds, but he left the game in the second quarter because of a left ankle injury. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 14 points and Jock Landale had 13 points with 10 rebounds.
The Lakers trailed 34-26 at the end of the first quarter and 65-54 at halftime. The Grizzlies had 10 offensive rebounds in the opening two quarters.
“We asked the guys at halftime, ‘Was there anything they were doing that we needed to make adjustments on?’ And they said, ‘Absolutely not,’” Redick said. “I mean, some of it was, again, that early offense. Eventually, we just picked up on the cadence and the pattern of [Memphis’ offense]. More physical.
“D.A. in the second half defensively was awesome, and really in that fourth quarter, had some big-time plays at the rim for us. Just communication was better. Just all around, sometimes it’s not, ‘hey, can we guard this action’ or, ‘hey, how do we guard this one player?’ Sometimes it’s just a collective effort and a collective spirit to get back and guard.”
After Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knocked down a 3-pointer to put Memphis ahead 99-98 with 5:29 left, Doncic responded with a jumper to retake the lead. James had a three-point play on the team’s next possession to give the Lakers a four-point advantage.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Doncic gave the Lakers a 112-103 lead with 2:08 remaining, with the Lakers holding on from there.