Lakers-Grizzlies Preview

By BRETT HUSTON
Posted Jan 22 2013 6:12PM

Kobe Bryant called for changes after the Los Angeles Lakers' most recent loss, the latest twist in a season that gets seemingly more hopeless by the day.

The Memphis Grizzlies have already made a minor move - though perhaps one that will keep them from doing something more drastic down the road.

The Lakers look to avoid a seventh straight road loss for the first time since their only non-playoff season of the last 20 years Wednesday night against a Grizzlies team that's struggling to score.

Los Angeles (17-24) is in 12th place in the Western Conference exactly halfway through its season, hardly the path it expected to be on after adding Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.

Things have only gotten worse in January. The Lakers lost for the ninth time in 11 games this month Monday in Chicago, getting outscored 26-14 in the fourth quarter of a 95-83 defeat that left Bryant wondering what's next.

"We're going to have to look at some things," he said. "We're going to have to change something. Probably going to have to post the ball a lot more, slow the game down a lot more. That's just my intuition, but that's my gut right now."

Bryant's suggestion would mean more touches for Pau Gasol, who came off the bench Monday for the second time in three games. He had 15 points and 12 rebounds against the Bulls, but has admitted to being "not excited" about his reserve role.

"I can't really worry about something that is out of my hands so I am just going to stay positive and do my best, but it is not something I am too thrilled about," Gasol said. "I wasn't expecting it. But right now we have bigger things to worry about as a group. As a team player that's what I'm most concerned about."

The Lakers are four games behind Houston for the West's eighth spot, but they've shown little to suggest they're capable of a turnaround. Los Angeles is 1-10 away from home against above-.500 teams, and a loss Wednesday would give the franchise its first seven-game road skid since 2004-05 - its lone season out of the playoffs since 1993-94.

The Lakers have already lost once at Memphis (26-14), falling 106-98 on Nov. 23 as Rudy Gay scored 21 points and Zach Randolph's 12 boards helped the Grizzlies hold a 39-28 rebounding edge. Howard and Gasol were held to a combined 13 points.

Gay and Randolph have been the subject of trade rumors with Memphis over the luxury tax threshold this season, though it still owes those two and Marc Gasol more than $100 million over the next two years. But the Grizzlies made a deal Tuesday to shed more than $6 million, trading Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby and a future draft pick to Cleveland for Jon Leuer.

That will get Memphis under the threshold and should keep it from shopping Gay or Randolph until at least this summer, but the Grizzlies are having enough offensive troubles as it is. They were held to 85 points or fewer for the sixth straight game Monday, falling 82-81 to visiting Indiana.

"I think we just get too complacent," guard Mike Conley said. "I think we start the game one way, up-tempo and in the flow, and as soon as that happens we try to get the ball inside and try to slow it down.

"We're playing two ways. We just have to find one easy flow and keep the momentum."

Ellington led Memphis with 17 points Monday, and without his 42.3 percent 3-point shooting, one of the league's worst teams from long distance is in more trouble. The Grizzlies are shooting 25.0 percent (22 of 88) from beyond the arc in their last eight games.

Grizzlies win 106-93, Lakers lose 4th straight

By TERESA M. WALKER
Posted Jan 24 2013 12:06AM

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) A team meeting didn't help stop the losing, and this season just keeps spinning away from the Lakers.

Darrell Arthur scored a season-high 20 points and Mike Conley added 19 as the Memphis Grizzlies beat Los Angeles 106-93 Wednesday night, handing the Lakers their fourth straight loss and 10th in 12 games.

"I do think they play as hard as they can play, and that's what's scary," coach Mike D'Antoni said of his Lakers, who are now 2-10 in January. "I mean I don't know how we can play harder or blame something else. We just didn't play well."

Kobe Bryant said he felt comfortable with what he said in a team meeting before the morning shootaround. He said he doesn't know if his message to Dwight Howard got across. When asked if he hoped it did, Bryant simply answered with a seemingly sarcastic "No." And Bryant said this season certainly is getting up there when asked if it was his toughest in the NBA.

"That Rudy T (Tomjanovich) one was a pretty hard one, too," Bryant said.

That was 2004-05, when the Lakers last missed the playoffs when Tomjanovich was coach part of a 34-48 season.

These Lakers are 17-25 after losing their seventh consecutive road game. D'Antoni had talked before the game about having an All-Star team with players not having learned their pecking order. Then Howard missed the second half after aggravating his sore shoulder just before halftime. D'Antoni said the center will be re-evaluated in Los Angeles.

Memphis got to celebrate a big win, a day after trading three reserves to Cleveland. That meant, even with the signing of D-League player Chris Johnson, Memphis only dressed 10 players before clinching the season series over the Lakers with one game left in Los Angeles on April 5.

"It was just a great team win," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said.

Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and Tony Allen added 12 points apiece as Memphis improved to 12-0 when scoring at least 100 points. Randolph also grabbed 10 rebounds. The Grizzlies scored a season-high 60 points in the paint, compared to 34 for the Lakers with Howard out the second half.

Bryant scored 29 points for the Lakers, Metta World Peace added 15, Pau Gasol 13 and Earl Clark 11.

Los Angeles came in as the NBA's fifth-best scoring team, averaging 102.6 points. But it was the Grizzlies topping 100 points for the first time since Jan. 11 against the Spurs, and they scored their most points since getting 113 against Sacramento on Jan. 7.

Pau Gasol, coming off the bench again, believes defense remains the Lakers' biggest problem.

"We make these teams look a lot better offensively than they really are," the Lakers forward said. "That's something that's pretty negative. Pretty alarming."

The Grizzlies had a short bench after trading three players to the Cavaliers on Tuesday, only getting Jon Leuer back in a move freeing up Memphis from the luxury tax. But the paperwork hadn't cleared on the physicals of the trio going to Cleveland in time to have Leuer available against the Lakers.

Then Marc Gasol, Randolph, Hamed Haddadi and Jerryd Bayless all picked up two fouls each in the first quarter. That forced Hollins to rotate his Grizzlies to keep them fresh, and rookie Tony Wroten, who has gotten most of his playing time in the D-League in Reno this season, had a career-best nine points by halftime.

"When we are faced with adversity, we show that we can win," Allen said. "When adversity comes, when guys get hurt, we pull together."

The Lakers started quickly, scoring the first six points of the game and forced four turnovers. They looked like they had listened to D'Antoni's plea for better defense.

But they last led 30-28 on a 15-footer by Pau Gasol with 9 minutes left in the second quarter. Conley answered with a 9-foot runner to tie it up, and that started a 22-5 run as the Grizzlies took the lead for good. Conley capped the spurt with a fast-break layup with 4:25 left in the first half for a 50-35 lead.

Both teams shot better than 50 percent in the first half, but the Grizzlies led 59-50 at halftime. They led by as much as 21 in the second half and finished with a 27-3 edge on second-chance points. They outrebounded the Lakers 52-34, including 16 offensive rebounds.

"It's just the same thing over again," Lakers forward Earl Clark said. "We broke down defensively. They went on a run, and we continue to just go downhill."

Meanwhile, Howard was 0 of 4 from the floor and headed to the locker room with 2:21 left in the first half, flexing his right shoulder. He had been probable with a torn labrum and had a very physical first half against Gasol and Haddadi.

The Lakers got within 61-58 on a 14-footer by Bryant with 8:57 left in the third. That was as close as they would get as their woes worsened when Steve Nash, who came in a perfect 26 of 26 at the free throw line this season, missed his second attempt of the night with 3:07 left in the third.

Notes: Gay tied Pau Gasol as the Grizzlies' franchise leader in games played with 476 ... D'Antoni, told at least he didn't have to worry about coaching the All-Star game this season, joked, "just barely missed it by 30 games." ... Memphis had gone six straight games since last topping 100 points, and the Grizzlies needed overtime to do that against the Spurs. ... Memphis had a 43-29 scoring edge from the bench. ... Nash finished with eight assists but six turnovers.

Notebook: Grizzlies 106, Lakers 93

Marlon W. Morgan, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:58 PM - Updated Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:58 PM

THE FACTS: Following Tuesday's trade of three bench players, Memphis was left with just 10 available bodies for Wednesday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Fortunately, it was a struggling Lakers team that had lost 10 of its last 12 and six consecutive road games. The Grizzlies got significant contributions from all 20, led by forward Darrell Arthur's 20 points and nine rebounds off the bench, to beat the Lakers, 106-93, at FedExForum.

QUOTABLE: "My focus had to be on point. I had to come out here and be aggressive. Not just this game, but every game, I've got to be consistent. Our numbers are down, but I thought our bench did a great job of coming in and giving us a spark."
-- Arthur

THE STAT: The Grizzlies scored 100 points or more in eight of their first 14 games this season. Since then, in regulation, they've only topped the 100-point mark twice counting Wednesday night's game. The other was Jan. 7 at Sacramento.

TURNING POINT: After trailing by nine at the half, the Lakers made a run to pull to within 67-63 with 6:28 left in the third quarter behind the hot shooting of Kobe Bryant, who had a game-high 29 points. But the Grizzlies responded with a 14-6 run to build a 12-point advantage and regain control of the game.

HOT: Arthur knew that with forward Marreese Speights part of the trade with Cleveland in return for forward Jon Leuer, who was unable because the physical paperwork hadn't been cleared by the NBA yet, he was going to see significant playing time. That time increased further with both Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph in foul trouble throughout the first half. Arthur responded with season highs in points and rebounds, shooting 9 of 14 from the floor. He did so with dunks, jumpers and drives to the basket.

NOT: The Lakers didn't get much scoring from Dwight Howard or Pau Gasol. Howard left the game with just over two minutes remaining in the first half after re-aggravated a right shoulder injury. But before that, he was 0 for 4 with just two points. Gasol, coming off the bench again, scored 13 missed six of his 10 shots.

QUOTABLE II: "Well (they were) too quick (and) too fast for us. They just beat us. They beat us to the ball. They beat us to the second chance points. That's mostly what it was. They just got so many more shots than we did at the goal. We just didn't play well."
-- Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni.

NOTABLE: Grizzlies' rookie guard Tony Wroten couldn't have written a better script for his first game with significant playing time this season. Shorthanded in the backcourt, the Grizzlies turned to their rookie to backup up point guard Mike Conley. Wroten responded with career highs of nine points and five rebounds. He also had a pair of memorable plays -- a dunk on Dwight Howard and Gasol, and block of Kobe Bryant at the rim, which Bryant was eventually given a technical foul for arguing. "I didn't even realize it was Kobe at first because it was in the heat of the moment," Wroten said. "I was trying to get a block without fouling him and then I found out it was Kobe. I was like, `Wow.' It was crazy.'' ... Without Howard's defensive presence in the middle, the Grizzlies took advantage, outscoring the Lakers, 60-35, in the paint, where they were 30 for 52. The 60 points in the paint were a season high. The Grizzlies also had a 27-3 edge in second chance points. ... After making 7 of his 9 shots in the first half for 16 points, Bryant was just 4 of 14 in the second half. Eleven of his 13 second half points came in the third quarter. ... Grizzlies guard Chris Johnson, playing in his first game after being acquired Tuesday on a 10-day contract from Rio Grande Valley of the NBA D-league, played seven minutes, scoring four points on 2 of 4 shots. ... The Grizzlies are 2-0 against the Lakers this season. With their final game in L.A. on April 5, the Grizzlies have clinched the season-series against the Lakers for the first time since the 2004-05 season when they were 3-0 against them.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Friday vs. Utah, Sunday vs. Oklahoma City. For the Grizzlies, Friday vs. Brooklyn, Sunday vs. New Orleans, Monday at Philadelphia.

• Lakers: Blake, Hill
• Grizzlies: Leuer

• Lakers: Bryant
• Grizzlies: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: FedExForum, Memphis, TN
• Officials: #7 Kevin Fehr, #30 John Goble, #55 Bill Kennedy
• Attendance: 17984
• Duration: 2:10