Facing elimination, the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Los Angeles 116-99 in front of a raucous home crowd at FedEx Forum in Memphis , Tennessee.
Desmond Bane1 led the way for Memphis , connecting on 13 of 26 from the floor for 33 points ; Ja Morant added 31 points in aother outstanding performance that thankfully didn’t result in the harming of any high schoolers.
The latest scapegoat for LeBron apologists and the LeMedia, Anthony Davis turned in a gorwn man performance, scoring 31 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. However there were times in the second half Davis reverted to his frustrating tendancy to float aimlessly on offense and there were several instances where he had deep post postion via mismatches and the Lakers perimeter players missed getting Davis the basketball. AD was one of just four Lakers who were not a net negative during his minutes on the floor.
LeBron James was off his game, shooting just 5/17 from the floor and scoring 15 points, pulling in 10 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists and committing 5 turnovers in a performance he would term “shit” after the game. He also vowed to be better in Game 6 ,but the grooundwork narrative/excuse for his poor performance as fatigue was already laid after the game.
The Lakers xcdrew within a single point multiple times in the third quarter but could never get over the hump and take the lead. The Grizzlies responded with a 26-2 run that would put them out in front by 25 points at 101-76. Later in the fourht the a 20-7 spurt from the Lakers would draw them to within 12 points, but the purple and gold could get no closer.
Up 3-2 the Lakers will look to end the series when it return to Los Angeles Friday night.
