That was a beating of the highest order. The Los Angeles Lakers have won their first playoff series in two years in empathic fashion as they humbled the Grizzlies 125-85 to win the series 4-2.
Well, there goes the hope of having another Game 7 in the First Round.
The Lakers utterly, wholeheartedly, and empathically annihilated the higher seed, yet far young and inexperienced, Memphis Grizzlies 125-85 in a must win Game 6 for Memphis, setting up a Second Round matchup with either Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors or De’Aaron Fox’s Sacramento Kings. And when I say that the Lakers completely destroyed the Grizzlies, I mean DESTROYED them!
You’d think the Grizzlies, who were facing elimination the second game in a row, would have had a little more intensity and desperation in their play to ward off the Lakers once again, but that couldn’t have been further form the truth. Every single player on the Grizzlies must have had a career-worst performance last night as not a single player had more than 16 points, while none of the starting 5 had more than 15 points.
Reversely, there were three Lakers with 16 points (LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell) and the starting lineup for LA contributed to 89 of the 125 points the Lakers scored, while the Memphis starting lineup scored just 51 points between them.
Ja Morant, who was less visible than a ghost on the court, had just 10 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, and 3 STLs, Jaren Jackson Jr. only posted 14 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, Dillon Brooks once again choked under pressure with his 10 PTS, 4 REB, and 2 AST, and Desmond Bane was really the only Memphis starter with even a passable performance as he had 15 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, and 1 STL.
Yet, even saying that anyone on this team had a passable performance feels wrong as the entire starting lineup finished with a +/- of -15 or worse, while Morant, Jackson Jr., and Bane all had ratings of -28 and below, respectively. Now, I usually don’t take too much stock in the +/- rating for NBA defenses, but these were too horrible for me not to include them.
How do you have a -28 (new Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr.), a -23 (Dillon Brooks), a -30 (Desmond Bane, and a game-low -31 (Ja Morant) in an elimination game?
Remember, this Memphis team finished 2nd in the Western Conference and tied the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 5th best record in the entire NBA (51-31), yet they showed absolutely no fight or will to win against the 7th seeded Lakers. I know the Lakers have two of the Top-75 greatest players on the roster (and the second greatest player ever in LeBron James), but that can’t be an excuse for the Grizzlies to get beaten in this fashion.
If this game ended up 125-121 or a scoreline within 10 points of the Lakers’ final tally, then I’d be far more understanding of this result as the Grizzlies are still a young team lead by an immature, inexperienced superstar (sorry, Ja, but it’s true). But what I saw on the bench during the closing minutes of this game is unacceptable for any team in the NBA, let alone one that has the expectations this Grizzlies side possesses.
Whether it was the stone-cold, blank expressions of disbelief or the jokey, unserious jesters that still, obviously, need to learn what the NBA is all about (looking at you, Ja Morant, as he was laughing up a storm while Memphis trailed by 40), the Grizzlies looked like a side that simply didn’t know how to respond or act when the Lakers started pouring into them.
There’s a reason why the likes of LeBron James (22 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL) and Anthony Davis (16 PTS, 14 REB, 1 AST, 5 BLKs) have won numerous championships, made All-NBA teams, and were on the Top-75 Greatest Players roster as they know how to win when the pressure is on them more times than not.
So, when you actually give them competent role players, such as Austin Reaves (11 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST, 2 BLKs), D’Angelo Russell (31 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK), Jared Vanderbilt (9 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 2 BLKs), etc., they end up winning series against the likes of Morant, Brooks, and this unserious Grizzlies roster.
Now, I don’t think the Lakers will be able to overcome either the Kings or the Warriors as those two teams are substantially deeper and more proficient from the field (the Lakers only averaging 112.2 PPG, 46.3% shooting from the field, 31.0% shooting from the 3-point line, and just 10.8 made 3-point shots/game), but it will be a tight series whoever they face off against.
It always is with LeBron James…which is why I’m not writing them off completely for a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
As for the Grizzlies, I hope the executives and upper management take the necessary steps to mature this roster as 40-point elimination game blowouts with unserious, jokey players on the bench cannot become a trend. This team has too much talent and potential for that to happen.
Just one more game (Game 7: Kings vs. Warriors) before the First Round of the NBA playoffs have officially concluded. Feels like a whirlwind, right?
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