The Lakers (13-12) are coming off a 15-point victory over the Boston Celtics and play the first half of a back-to-back, when they meet the Memphis Grizzlies (14-11) tonight inside FedEx Forum. Coverage begins with the pregame show at 4:00 p.m. PT with the tipoff set for 5:00 p.m. PT on Spectrum SportsNet.
Here are three things to know before tonight’s matchup:
SECOND HALF IMPROVING
Over the last three games, the Lakers lead the league in third quarter margin (+9.3) and second half margin (+14.3). Defensively, they are second in the NBA in opponent third quarter points (23.0) and are sixth in opponent second half points allowed (48.7).
Specifically, the third quarter continues to be an area of improvement for the Lake Show as L.A. has won eight of the last 12 third quarters dating back to their loss to Minnesota on Nov. 12.
In Tuesday’s win over the Celtics, Russell Westbrook carried the Lakers during their 31-point third quarter, scoring 15-of-his-24 points and the Lakers defensively held the Celtics to 20 points.
Frank Vogel spoke highly of L.A.’s improvement on the defensive side of the ball following Tuesday’s victory.
“We learn about our group a little bit every game,” Vogel said. Our group has a great way of talking things out and having group intelligence. Our coaching staff really evaluates what we’re doing on a game-by-game basis and we’re very proud of our defensive performance tonight.”
PAINT’S A BIGGER PICTURE
Memphis currently leads the league in average points in the paint (54.1) while Los Angeles is currently 7th, averaging 48.3 points.
The Lakers have had a much better showing in the key especially over the last five games, leading the league with 60.4 points and outscoring their opponents 302-230 (Memphis is third with 54.0).
AD has had the biggest impact inside the key, currently second in the league averaging 14.6 points in the paint. Additionally, James and Westbrook each rank 17th and 30th in the NBA, averaging 10.2 and 9.3 points in the paint, respectively.
For the Grizzlies, Ja Morant has been the top producer in the paint, currently ranked fourth in the NBA (14.3) but due to a left knee sprain, he’ll miss the action tonight. His teammate, Dillon Brooks, is the next highest scorer in the paint for Memphis averaging 8.5 points.
In addition to scoring, rebounding has been a particularly large asset to both teams’ success, with the Grizzlies currently ranked second in the NBA in total rebounds (47.8) and the Lakers ranked fourth (46.4).
Individually, Anthony Davis and Steven Adams are ranked in the top-20 for total rebounds and are top-10 in offensive rebounds (Adams is second with 94, Davis is seventh with 73).
L.A. is coming off a huge performance over the Celtics where they scored more than half of their 117 points, in the paint (66), and had 17 more total rebounds than Boston (51-34). AD recorded 16 rebounds to go with his 17 points (10 of which came in the paint).
HEATING UP WITHOUT JA
As previously mentioned, Morant will not play tonight due to a left knee sprain he suffered in the first quarter of the Grizzlies’ Nov. 27 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. In his absence, however, Memphis has won five of the last six games including a five-game winning streak that ended in a loss to Dallas last night.
In those five games, the Grizzlies had won by a margin of almost 26 points, including a 73-point thrashing of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 2, now the largest margin of victory in NBA history (previous record was 68 points by Cleveland over Miami in 1991-92).
Jaren Jackson Jr. has taken over the main scoring with Morant sidelined, averaging 20.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks over the last six games.
Morant previously recorded a double-double in the first meeting with L.A. when he scored a game-high 40 points to go with 10 assists. He was already going to miss tonight’s contest because of the knee sprain but additionally, Morant entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols after testing positive for COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon.