The L.A. Lakers overpowered the Memphis Grizzlies en route to a 125-85 game six win that propelled the Lakers into the second round and sent the Grizzlies home for the summer. D'Angelo Russell had his best and most impactful performance since rejoining the Lakers, scoring a playoff career-high 31 points on 12-17 field goal shooting--but the most significant story in this game is that Anthony Davis and LeBron James dominated in the paint at both ends of the court. Davis' boxscore numbers may not look overwhelming--16 points, 14 rebounds, five blocked shots--but he pushed the Grizzlies around at both ends of the court, igniting the Lakers' offense and thwarting the Grizzlies from scoring in the paint not only by blocking shots but also by altering and discouraging shots. Meanwhile, instead of hanging out on the perimeter and stat padding while his team loses, James attacked the paint on offense and was actively engaged on defense. His numbers (22 points, six assists, five rebounds) do not reflect how dominant he was. The Lakers outscored the Grizzlies in the paint 52-32, and the Lakers won the rebounding battle 52-45. The Lakers' three point shooting was adequate (15-44, .341) but not exceptional.
This game vividly illustrates the point that I keep making about the "transformed Lakers." The Lakers are not "transformed," at least in terms of having "lasers" and more talent than they had in the first part of the season. The only "transformation" is that Davis and James are playing every game and they are playing hard in most games. If Davis and James had done that from the start of the season, this team would never have fallen to 13th in the West.
The Grizzlies did not show up to compete. The Lakers deserve some credit for that, but the Grizzlies also deserve a lot of blame. No Memphis player scored more than 16 points. No Memphis starter shot better than .400 from the field. Kenny Smith does not show his "pictures" at halftime during blowouts, and after this game the Grizzlies do not deserve to have their individual statistics mentioned. After game two, Dillon Brooks declared that he "pokes bears" and he called LeBron James "old." Brooks' words proved to be as off the mark as his errant shot attempts. The Grizzlies would be wise to let Brooks take his big mouth and small game elsewhere.
In the first half, the Lakers outscored the Grizzlies in the paint 36-16 and went into halftime with a 59-42 lead. James scored 16 first half points, shooting 7-9 from the field--and 6-6 from inside the arc. Davis added 11 points on 4-7 field goal shooting, 10 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Russell scored 14 points--and even if he had not made a single shot, the Lakers would have still had the lead thanks to the paint dominance of James and Davis.
The second half turned into what Marv Albert used to call "extensive garbage time"--a mop up/stat padding operation as the Grizzlies surrendered meekly. The cliche about every NBA team making a run did not apply in this game.
The Lakers have received a lot of praise regarding the three players who they acquired in exchange for Russell Westbrook. Here are their game six statistics:
D'Angelo Russell had 31 points on 12-17 field goal shooting. He averaged 16.7 ppg on .435 field goal shooting (37-85) during this series.
Jarred Vanderbilt had nine points on 3-8 field goal shooting. He averaged 7.2 ppg on .548 field goal shooting (17-31) during this series.
Malik Beasley has fallen out of the rotation. He did not play until the fourth quarter, when the game was out of hand. He finished with nine points on 2-6 field goal shooting. He averaged 4.2 ppg on .292 field goal shooting (7-24) during this series.
The prevailing narrative is that jettisoning Westbrook in exchange for these three role players transformed the Lakers. The reality is that when James and Davis are healthy, engaged, and playing in the paint the Lakers can be good; when James and Davis are not playing in the paint, the Lakers are not very good. If anything, the main thing that the trade accomplished--whether by accident or design--is open up an opportunity for Austin Reaves, who has pushed Beasley out of the lineup and emerged as the Lakers' third best all-around player.
The Lakers will get some rest before facing the winner of Sunday's game seven battle pitting the Sacramento Kings versus the Golden State Warriors. Sacramento enjoys homecourt advantage in game seven after winning game six on the road.