MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After a heartbreaking loss and an ongoing lull, Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick felt his group needed to regroup and recalibrate.
Redick called a meeting with the team’s three leaders — LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves — Saturday morning in Memphis ahead of the final game of the Lakers’ four-game road trip.
The goal, he later shared, was to discuss ways to optimize the offense around their collective shot creation and playmaking skills.
“We challenged all three of them when we get to their three-man actions to play with a little more force and a little more thrust and a little more creativity,” Redick said.
The challenge was accepted, as the trio combined for 85 points and 25 assists — contributing to 120 of the Lakers’ 134 points — in their 134-127 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
“I think the meeting was just still trying to build that chemistry amongst the three of us to help the team be successful,” Reaves said. “And I think tonight it just showed that when we play the right way and trust one another, especially offensively, we can have open looks on almost every possession. … It was really just a conversation about how bad all of us want to win and win at a high level.
The win pushed the Lakers to 45-29 and dropped the Grizzlies to 44-30. The Lakers now hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Grizzlies, temporarily giving them the inside track for the No. 4 in the West, depending on how Los Angeles’ final eight games go.
Los Angeles posted its most points in nearly a month — they dropped 136 against New Orleans on March 6 — and scored the second-highest total of the Dončić era. They accomplished the rare feat of a 50-40-90 shooting game, shooting 50.6 percent from the floor, 44.2 percent on 3-pointers and 92.6 percent at the free-throw line.
The Lakers made 19 3-pointers, tying the second-most they’ve made this season. And they turned the ball over only 13 times, a relatively low number. They put on a clinic, exacting about as much as they could from possession to possession.
“We played as well as we’ve played so far, offensively,” Redick said.
With Dončić (29 points, eight rebounds and nine assists) and Reaves (31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists) running the offense and targeting Memphis’ weaker defenders, and James (25 points, six rebounds and eight assists) screening, rolling and posting up, the Lakers’ offense hummed. Despite their considerable size advantage, the Grizzlies, who entered the game with the No. 11 defense, had no answer for Los Angeles’ firepower.
The Lakers sought to bring Ja Morant, Scotty Pippen Jr. and Luke Kennard into screening actions to pick on their diminutive size and/or defensive limitations. When Jaxson Hayes struggled defensively against Desmond Bane on various dribble hand-off and pick-and-roll actions, they downsized to Dorian Finney-Smith, pick-and-popping against rookie center Zach Edey until he was pulled right before crunch time.
Gabe Vincent (15 points, four 3s), Finney-Smith (11 points, three 3s) and Rui Hachmura (13 points, three 3s) were all significant contributors as floor-spacers and connectors.
“The ball was flying around because of the advantages and (Dončić, Reaves and James) getting into the paint,” Finney-Smith said. “Me, Gabe, Rui (Hachimura), (Jarred Vanderbilt) just recipients of them playing well.
The Lakers ranked 18th in offense since Dončić’s arrival entering Saturday’s game. It’s been better recently, with the team ranking 14th since the respective returns of James and Hachimura. But that’s simply not good enough for a team with a trio of creators like Dončić, James and Reaves. (It’s also worth noting that James has missed seven of the 24 games over that stretch, and Dončić and Reaves have each missed three.)
“We just continued to play the game the right way and trusted one another to make the right play,” Reaves said. “And the ball is gonna eventually find its way back to whoever it is. It’s just, you kind of gotta pick your poison of who you want to guard. And I think we can create something special to help us be successful.”
Along the day’s theme of communication and clarity, Redick and Reaves both mentioned that James gave an impassioned speech during a fourth-quarter timeout that inspired his teammates.
He was an incredible leader tonight,” Redick said of James. “And it was early. It was throughout the game. When we got down, I challenged the group in a timeout and he was as vocal as he’s been since he got back from injury. And that galvanized the group. … I think if he doesn’t say what he said in the timeout, we probably don’t win the game.
“It was the first time I’ve heard him yell in a while,” Reaves added. “It was refreshing, to be honest. I loved it.”
There is still room for improvement offensively. One of James or Dončić — Redick wouldn’t divulge who — said the two need more reps with their two-man game, and they’ve only scratched the surface of the possibilities.
If there was anything to nitpick, it was the defensive end, where the Lakers continue to look pedestrian at best and concerning at worst since the returns of James and Hachimura. Their 3-point defense has cratered, and they’re not playing with the same verve and sprit they when they were the league’s best defense for eight weeks.
“You’re not gonna play a perfect game,” Reaves said. “But late game, you had to be really locked in to what you were trying to do and I felt like we did that tonight. Obviously, giving up, like you said, 127, it’s not how many points we want to give up. So, obviously, we can do better. But when we needed it, we got stops.
Redick echoed a similar sentiment, stating that the Lakers largely stayed within their scheme and preferred coverages and were content with the shots they conceded, including 38 non-paint 2-pointers.
“In terms of our execution, you can execute a defensive game plan and teams can still make shots,” Redick said. “I liked what we did defensively with our half-court defense.”
Entering the final two weeks of the regular season, the Lakers can control their own destiny. They’ve secured the head-to-head tiebreakers over the Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers — the three teams they’re battling for the No. 4 seed. If they win the Pacific Division, which they appear on pace to do, they will also hold the tiebreakers over the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The only unsettled situations are against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have already locked up the No. 1 seed in the West, and the Houston Rockets. The Lakers host the Rockets twice, with a chance to win the tiebreaker and push for the No. 2 or 3 seed if they can beat the Rockets both times (if the Rockets win one or both games, Houston wins the tiebreaker)
“I think this was a big game for us in the sense of how we lost the other night,” Reaves said. “We hadn’t been playing great. So, coming into this game, it was obviously high-intensity. It’s hard, the last game on a road trip because you’re pretty excited to go home. But for that three hours or whatever the game is, you got to lock in and try to put your best foot forward and win.
