Tuesday, Feb. 23—8 p.m. ET
FedEx Forum, Memphis
Lakers favored by five points.
Los Angeles may still be without Kobe Bryant, but they are an impressive 4-1 without their star player. The Grizzlies, once looking like a threat, have dropped out of the playoffs and are looking for answers.
The Week That Was: Lakers
The Lakers opened the second half of a season with a win, handily defeating the Golden State Warriors 104-94. The Lakers improved to 4-0 without Kobe Bryant, who is still battling an ankle injury.
It was Shannon Brown who took the reigns as the Lakers star player, scoring a career high 27 and adding 10 rebounds; his first career double-double. The Lakers dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Warriors 53-36 (Lamar Odom led L.A. with 18). Although Bryant was still sitting, the Lakers did welcome back Andrew Bynum back in the lineup after the starter missed a pair of games with an injury. Bynum scored 21 in his return.
Los Angeles followed that up with a rare loss at home, dropping an 87-86 decision to the Boston Celtics. Still without Bryant, the Lakers lost for the first time in their current run without No. 8.
LA was undone by poor shooting around the court, only knocking down 40.2 percent of their field goals, 64 percent of their free throws, and 25 percent of their three-pointers. The Lakers only managed one field goal in the final 7:14 of play.
The Week That Was: Grizzlies
Memphis began their post all-star break play by losing their fifth straight, 109-95 to the Phoenix Suns. The Grizzlies were outscored 58-32 in the paint, and only managed 35.6 percent shooting from the field. Memphis actually had a lead after the first quarter, but was outscored by 11 in the second and could never recover.
On...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
