Lakers News: Darvin Ham Details How LA Held On To Beat Memphis Late

Lakers head coach credits character and fight to last nights win

The Los Angeles Lakers have been a part of close games in four of their last five games, and they've fallen short in three of those games. Last night, LA took on the second-sed Memphis Grizzles, and shocker, it was a close game. However, this time, the result favored the Lakers. 

LA was bound to win a close game after their past three close games in which they lost; the referee's missed calls may have affected the Lakers. 

Nonetheless, LA picked up a much-needed win, and head coach Darvin Ham credited the teams' character and fight to snap Memphis' 11-game win streak. 

"Once we kept our togetherness, we never got too down. Guys were chirping, talking, communicating, constantly encouraging one another to be better on the defensive glass. The biggest thing, we took care of the ball, we got good shots, we stayed in attack mode, playing downhill. We were able to get to the free throw line ourselves, plus seven in terms of makes, and we were able to make threes." 

"The guys came out and competed their butts off man, and really just fought all the way to the end." Darvin Ham as his touches on the team's mentality and unity. pic.twitter.com/ist6zmcKZb

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 21, 2023

Even more impressive about the Lakers closing out the game was that LeBron didn't have to go nuclear for LA to win the game. James only had 23 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, while the leading six-man of the year candidate led all scorers with 29 points in 31 minutes, along with five rebounds and six assists. 

Six Lakers were in double-figures, and LA was able to make more free throws than the Grizzlies. Ultimately, a TUFF steal resulted in an and-one finish by Dennis Schroder, which sealed the deal. 

LA has been scratching and clawing all season long, and last night showed that led by Darvin Ham.