Los Angeles (USA), Apr 16 (EFE) due to injury to his star, Ja Morant (112-128).
The explosive Memphis point guard hurt his right hand after a nasty fall with 5.48 left in the fourth quarter and did not return to the court for the rest of the game.
These reborn Lakers, who have reached the playoffs as seventh in the West after their disastrous start (2-10), signed a great collective performance with two fantastic recitals by Hachimura (29 points with a brilliant 5 of 6 in triples) and Reaves ( 23 points, 9 of them in a row in the last quarter).
An excellent afternoon was also sealed by Anthony Davis, a giant under the basket with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocks, while LeBron James contributed 21 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers thus snatched the home court factor from the Grizzlies (second in the West) who were the best home team in the regular season (35-6).
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 31 points, Desmond Bane had 22 points and Morant had 18 points before going down with the injury.
The Spanish Santi Aldama, who in some stretches defended Davis, got 8 points and 6 rebounds in a Grizzlies unsuccessful in the triple (13 of 36) and inferior to the Angelenos in the rebound (40 for 53).
HIT ON THE TABLE OF THE LAKERS
The Lakers didn’t seem intimidated by the loud and intense atmosphere at FedExForum in Memphis and dominated the first quarter fueled by Davis’ strong start (8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in the first quarter).
The Grizzlies came to see themselves down 10 points in the initial period but narrowed the score towards the second quarter (30-25) thanks to the production inside Jackson Jr. (8 points).
Taylor Jenkins’s team began to suffer from a lack of height and muscle in their rotation, especially with the injured Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke absent.
In addition, Dillon Brooks added his third foul when there were still 9 minutes left for the break.
The Angelenos took advantage of all this by becoming strong in the area with clear examples such as a shot from LeBron to Bane.
However, Darvin Ham’s men got tangled up midway through the second quarter with a succession of turnovers, concentration errors, missed 3-pointers (a sad 5 of 18 in the first half) and offensive fouls that allowed the Grizzlies, With 19 points from a sensational Jackson Jr., they will go ahead at halftime (65-59).
Even so, the big scare for the Lakers was that, a minute before halftime, Davis left the locker room after hurting his right arm.
“I can’t move my arm,” the center said as he left the court with what looked like some kind of puncture, but after a few minutes of chills for fans in purple and gold, Davis was back when the second half began.
At the restart, Bane came on fire with 7 straight points for Memphis and Morant hit two straight 3-pointers.
The Lakers’ answer came from the hand of a very inspired Hachimura, fabulous with four triples in the third quarter and who led his team to the last quarter with an advantage (90-96).
Morant’s injury in the middle of the last quarter marked the outcome of the match in which Reaves grew spectacularly, who, in addition to astonishing with 9 points in a row in the final stretch, also excelled with a beautiful pass from behind for a Hachimura front triple.
Davis was still a titan on defense and the Grizzlies, now without Morant, gave up against the Lakers who closed the last quarter with a resounding 22-32 to start the playoffs with a firm step.
David Villafranca
