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Lakers Final Score: LA Grits Out Overtime Thriller, Takes 3-1 Lead Over Grizz

King James posts his first-ever 20-20 night!

Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers Final Score: LA Grits Out Overtime Thriller, Takes 3-1 Lead Over Grizz
Lakers Final Score: LA Grits Out Overtime Thriller, Takes 3-1 Lead Over Grizz /
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It turns out this LeBron James guy is pretty good.

Last night at Crypto.com Arena, your Los Angeles Lakers battled through a woeful long range shooting night (at least, through three quarters) to vanquish the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 117-111 in overtime, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.

We're not saying it's time to look ahead to a potential matchup against the Golden State Warriors or Sacramento Kings (their series is knotted up at 2-2) but, in the entire history of the NBA, teams leading 3-1 in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win 95.2% of the time (258-13), per Marc Stein.

No doubt terrified of repeating their season-worst nine-point opening quarter in Game 3, the Grizzlies got off to a hot start, notching the game's first six points. Los Angeles quickly regrouped, behind a stellar scoring stretch courtesy of... Jarred Vanderbilt, who literally scored no points in the Lakers' Game 3 win, but poured in 10 of LA's first 12 last night.

Los Angeles wrapped up that first period leading 29-23.

The good vibes continued halfway through the contest's second quarter, at one point building up a 15-point edge, 53-38, capped off by seven straight points courtesy of Austin Reaves, LA's high scorer for the night.

On the other end, the Lakers' collective defense looked impressive for much of the bout's first half.

Vanderbilt, LA's most versatile defender, was frequently tasked with covering Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant, who was hounded into an inefficient 19-point night on 8-of-24 shooting. That said, it seemed that Morant's output was also hampered by his right hand, which he appeared to re-aggravate after being forced to sit out Game 2.

As tends to happen with Los Angeles, the club struggled to maintain its early momentum consistently throughout the matchup. Buoyed by top scorers Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., the Grizzlies went on an annoyingly good 14-1 run to close out the half and slash the Lakers' margin to just two points at the halftime break, 54-52.

The two teams traded interior scoring and defense in the contest's third quarter. The big interior scoring presence who had more or less abdicated his offensive responsibilities, however, was star LA center Anthony Davis, who scored just four points through the first three periods, his lowest playoff output ever.

LeBron James irritant Dillon Brooks had been tasked with guarding the 19-time All-Star for much of this series, but a Taylor Jenkins adjustment in the second half saw Xavier Tillman, the team's athletic starting center with Steven Adams done for the year, defending James instead.

The Grizzlies headed into the fourth quarter leading by a possession, 83-81, and Ja Morant hanging this brutal buzzer-beating tomahawk dunk over poor Rui Hachimura's head:

Los Angeles head coach Darvin Ham tried to close the fourth quarter with a three-guard lineup (basically four of the team's starters with backup point guard Dennis Schröder in for Vanderbilt). Yours truly was frustrated Ham seemed to prioritize playmaking over size and shooting, and had hoped that Rui Hachimura would be used late. It turns out (a) I was wrong to doubt the three-guard lineup and (b) I would get what I wanted eventually, anyway. Read on.

During the game, Chris Haynes reported on the TNT broadcast that Anthony Davis was dealing with a hip injury after falling on it in the game's first half, which seemed to explain his brutal scoring start.

Memphis was fleecing Los Angeles in the transition scoring game for much of the night, as it appeared the Lakers were trying to play at a more deliberate pace to accommodate their aging stars.

With the momentum having fully swung after a 27-foot Desmond Bane triple, Memphis was up 97-90 with 5:13 left to play. That's when D'Angelo Russell finally proved his postseason mettle. LA's starting point guard put up three quick triples, back-to-back-to-back, to help put Los Angeles up by two points, 99-97 with 3:55 left in regulation. It really was a game of two halves for D-Lo. He scored just two points on 1-of-5 shooting in first half, but had put up 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the second.

Russell later fouled out with 1:45 remaining when he was whistled for contact on Desmond Bane. Hachimura came in for a happily much larger closing five.

The game's final 1:04 in regulation deserves a review. First, James fouled Morant (honestly, The Chosen could have been hit for many more fouls than the refs actually assessed him), and Morant split the free throws to put Memphis up 102-100. 

After LA had struggled to generate a lot of shots and had been forcing the issue with inconsistent jumpers, things were looking a bit dire. Austin Reaves knifed through the paint with a critical driving take to tie things up, 102-102, with 43.5 seconds remaining. Morant botched a quick retaliatory drive attempt (again, that hand did seem to be affecting him). 

James rebounded the miss with 34.9 remaining, and suddenly the Lakers looked like they were in control.

Instead of running any kind of tactical set plays, James opted to improvise while watching the shot clock tick down a bit too long. He clearly didn't have any kind of plan, as he then dribbled into Grizzlies triple-coverage from Memphis, passing out to Hachimura for a four-foot dunk try. 

Jaren Jackson Jr., the new Defensive Player of the Year this season, blocked Hachimura at the rim. The ball quickly found its way to Morant, who sprinted down the other end. He was quickly blanketed by two LA defenders, but hit a trailing Bane with a nifty behind-the-back pass. Bane nailed a layup and put the Grizz up two with 6.7 seconds left.

LeBron James, who had been relatively deferential as a scorer most of the night and had struggled inside, turned in an incredible drive that ricocheted high off the backboard to avoid a JJJ block before rattling home with 0.8 seconds left to tie the game up once again at 104-104.

Given that Ja Morant could probably rival John Wall in his fast breaking prime downhill, it seemed conceivable he could pull off some kind of miracle floater. But Anthony Davis, who hadn't scored much but remained LA's defensive anchor, sent the game to overtime with this hilariously cruel block:

In the bonus period, a clearly-more comfortable James and Davis got each other going early with some nice give-and-go interplay. Schröder, pressed into service with Russell gone, coughed up the ball a few times with passes to no one that bothered everyone at Crypto.com Arena.

Los Angeles built up a four-point lead with 70 seconds remaining, pestered Morant into missing a pull-up jumper in response, and suddenly it was the Lakers' game to lose.

But this crazy LeBron James drive to the left of the basket, where he goaded Brooks into a foul (though he couldn't convert the subsequent free throw try to complete the and-one), essentially sealed the deal for the night:

Though the Grizzlies would go on to play the foul game in an attempt to steal a win, that James take to pt the Lakers up by five with 29.4 seconds left essentially wrapped up the game, and possibly the series.

Los Angeles went on to outscore the Grizzlies 13-7 in the overtime period to finish with a 117-111 win, taking that aforementioned 3-1 series edge. The action moves to Memphis on Wednesday for a potential Lakers closeout game.

Between the seventh-seeded Lakers, the eighth-seeded Miami Heat, and the fifth-seeded New York Knicks, three underdog teams now lead their series 3-1.

In 45:28, James finished with 22 points and a whopping 20 rebounds, his first-ever 20-20 night across a storied 20-season NBA career. He also chipped in seven dimes (against just one turnovers) and two blocks. Reaves scored a Lakers-most 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while Russell's critical buckets helped swing the game's energy firmly to LA late. D-Lo finished with a still-inefficient 17 points (on 7-of-15 shooting), but the import of that fourth quarter moment made this probably his most valuable game of the series. Davis did notch a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, but he scored eight of those 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well, though the Lakers came out on top of the field goal efficiency battle. LA went 41-of-94 from the floor overall (43.6%), including 10-of-36 from long range. The Grizzlies shot 42-of-106 from the field (39.6%) and just 9-of-42 from deep. Los Angeles enjoyed a massive free throw advantage, going 25-of-31 to Memphis' 18-of-21.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Basketball is Alex's favorite sport, he likes the way they dribble up and down the court.

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