The Los Angeles Lakers now own homecourt advantage in their first round NBA playoff series after beating the Memphis Grizzlies 128-112 in the opener. Memphis point guard Ja Morant left the game in the fourth quarter due to an injury.
The Lakers closed the win with a 15-0 run to cap a dominant second half fueled by red-hot shooting from beyond the arc. Over the Lake Show were 16-of-37 (43.2%) from beyond the arc.
Simply put, the Grizzlies were done in by the Lakers “Big Four” of James, Davis, Hachimura and Reaves:
LeBron James today:
21 PTS – 11 REB – 5 AST – 50% FGRui Hachimura today:
29 PTS – 79% FG – 83% 3P – 100% FTAnthony Davis today:
22 PTS – 12 REB – 3 AST – 7 BLKAustin Reaves today:
23 PTS – 61% FG – 60% 3P – 100% FT🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Sm7yLREGPH
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 16, 2023
Meanwhile Memphis is taking a wait and see attitude with Morant who injured his hand after running into Anthony Davis in the lane midway through the fourth quarter:
Ja Morant exits the game with a hand injury. Looks pretty severe pic.twitter.com/zov2gOLcqs
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 16, 2023
Morant returned to the Grizzlies bench but didn’t play again. He finished with 18 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Jaren Jackson led all scorers with 31 points.
Why the Lakers Won
The Fab Four were hitting on all-cylinders. And the Davis line was historic. He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocks despite getting a nerve stinger in his arm:
“I can’t move my arm”
– Anthony Davis 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/7pHSsBkuEK
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 16, 2023
Only 4 Lakers in franchise history have recorded 20+ PTS, 10+ REB, and 5+ BLK in a playoff game. They are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, and Anthony Davis.
More History
The Lakers had four 20-point playoff scorers for the first time since 1988. That’s when Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Byron Scott did it.
Davis with 7 blocks and 3 steals is the first player in the league to do it since Golden State’s Draymond Green did it in 2016.
Hachimura tied Mychal Thompson for most LAL playoff bench points (29).
The Morant Injury
Morant says his status for Game 2 is “in jeopardy.” He wasn’t able to use his right hand to undo a balled-up pair of socks.
Ja Morant explaining his hand injury tonight, how his Game 2 status is 'in jeopardy,' and how he 'feels numb' when something bad happens at this point.
"It's just one thing after another." pic.twitter.com/IN6hK2uG2n
— Clayton Collier (@ClaytonJCollier) April 17, 2023
What’s next?
Game 2 in the series is set for Wednesday night in Memphis and BetOnline has Memphis listed as a -1.5 point favorite. By the sounds of it, Morant doesn’t think he’ll play. X-rays didn’t show any breaks or fractures, so it’s a wait and see situation. Memphis is already without injured starters Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke.
One thing is for sure. Memphis will need a better effort from their bench to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole. The Grizzlies got just 24 points from their bench and very little of it came in the second half
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