LOS ANGELES — LeBron James swear to be better for Friday’s Game 6 Los Angeles Lakers‘ first series against Grizzly Memphis.
He kept his word, and his teammates kept pressuring the Grizzlies early in the game, destroying the 2nd seed Grizzlies 125-85 to win the series 4-2.
James took 17 hits to hit 5 in Game 5. On Friday, he hit 7 of his first 8 shots, marking a dominant first-half performance with a two-handed backstroke during the transition.
James said after the game: “That was definitely the mentality of Game 7 for us. “We understand we have an opportunity to play in front of the fans and we want to try to finish it tonight.”
It feels like they ended it after halftime. LA had a 17-point lead after halftime and James had 16, one more than his Game 5 total. He finished with 22 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds and made history in the process, winning the 40th playoff series of his career and knocking Derek Fisher down the most of all time. age.
“He’s playing with a sense of urgency,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of the 20-year veteran before the game. “He knows there are only so many of these [postseason runs] he will be able to participate. So he was definitely present in the moment.
The second half of Game 6 was merely an extended celebration for the Crypto.com Arena crowd, with the Lakers leading by 40. The cheers went on for a long time, as the franchise completed its first home win to end a play-off since 2012, when it beat Denver nuggets in Game 7 in the first round.
Join the act of redemption with James as the Lakers’ point guard D’Angelo Russell. After winning 4 to 11 in Wednesday’s loss in Memphis, he’s won 5 to 8 in the first quarter alone. Russell finished the game with a top 31 in a 12-to-17 shootout, establishing a career-new playoff scoring record. He came out of the playoff slump dramatically, never having performed 50% or higher in a post-season game before that.
“Finally earning some is definitely a good feeling, but honestly, winning is better,” Russell said afterward.
And he did it with Kyrie Irvingold James’ Cleveland Cavaliers running mate, sitting right next to the Lakers bench.
Looks like things went the Lakers way on Friday. Their foul rate from the pitch is 53.8%. Their defense held Memphis to 30.2%.
“I told them after the game we set a defensive standard for ourselves about how we have to play and what we have to do on the defensive side of the ball,” Ham said.
Austin Reaves played the floor match he’d become a favorite in LA, scoring 11 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Jarred Vanderbilt helped harass the Grizzlies star Ja Morant on a shooting night 3 eat 16 while winning 3 eat 8 with 3 points for 9 points in the attack. Rui Hachimura came off the bench again effectively, scoring six points in a three-to-five shootout, including two pitches that rocked the arena.
And Anthony Davis – whose traumatic accident personified the team’s frustration over the past several seasons – received an “AD! AD!” chants from the crowd after dashing off the field to save a loose ball late in the third half when the Lakers led 30.
Davis – who finished with 16 points on 6 to 9, 14 rebounds and 5 saves – raised both hands in the air and signaled to the fans to play more.
“I can’t control the ball all the time, but defensively, I can control a lot of things,” Davis said after averaging 4.3 saves in the following league-leading streak. this season. “And that kind of thing just promotes offense. No matter what I’m doing, I want to be able to leave my mark on the game in defense right now.”
Both teams started the game with more than nine minutes left in the fourth inning, with LA leading 103-71. Discreet victories like Friday’s are rare for the Lakers in the regular season, let alone in the most important game of the year.
The Lakers became the first 7th seed to disappoint in the opening round since San Antonio Spurs in 2010 and was only the sixth team to ever achieve the feat. They wait for the winner of Game 7 between King Sacramento And golden empire warriors on Sunday to find out their second-round opponent.
“We’re in the same time zone,” James said, heading into the conference semifinals. “We’re in the same state. It’s an hour’s flight each, a little less to Sac, a little more to the Bay. So that would certainly help.”
After starting the season 2-10, the Lakers have won 14 of their last 18 games extending to the end of the regular season to win the previous play-in. Minnesota Timberwolves to the Grizzlies series.
The Lakers became only the second team to enter the tournament since it was introduced in 2020 to advance to the second round, entering Heat Miamiwho beat Milwaukee Bucks beginning of the week.
James and Davis improved to 5-0 in the playoff series in which they were both healthy.
After Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks calling James “old” after the Lakers’ Game 2 loss at Memphis, LA won three of the next four.
James faces Brooks on the field ahead of Game 3 in LA A source within earshot of the conversation told ESPN that James’s message to Brooks was essentially, “You’re ready for what’s to come for you. am I tonight?”
Brooks is not ready. The Grizzlies aren’t ready yet.
And 38-year-old James’ post-season continues.
