The Los Angeles Lakers got a much-needed win Saturday, against a team suddenly trying to figure out its future.
There were no shooters left open, inbounds turnovers or Josh Giddey buzzer-beaters this time. Los Angeles recovered from its absolute howler of a loss to the Chicago Bulls with a 134-127 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, a day after Memphis stunned the basketball world by firing head coach Taylor Jenkins.
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It was also Ja Morant’s first game back after missing six games with a hamstring injury. He had 22 points and 10 assists in 31 minutes.
LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves each posted at least 25 points, with James and Dončić recreating perhaps the most iconic photo of James’ career, his dual portrait with Dwyane Wade during his stint with the Miami Heat.
Reaves paced the team with 31 points, plus eight assists and seven rebounds.
It was all Lakers early, with a lead growing to as many as 20 points in the second quarter. Memphis runs briefly gave it the lead in the third and fourth quarters.
The Lakers entered Saturday having lost four of their past five games and eight of their past 12. Many of those losses were attributable to injuries — James missed two weeks with a groin injury — but Los Angeles was only 1-3 since James came back. Had the Lakers not been able to beat a Grizzlies team playing its first game under interim coach Tuomas Iisalo, it would have been concerning.
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Los Angeles is now tied with Memphis for fourth place in the Western Conference with a 44-29 record and nine games left on the regular-season schedule.
As for Memphis, it was playing in a state of flux between the loss of Jenkins and return of Morant. The Grizzlies cut the coach loose despite being well on track for a playoff spot, and it feels like we’re all still in the process of figuring out exactly what happened. If they fired Jenkins because they legitimately believed they were a better team without him, Saturday was a bad start.
