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Without LeBron, Lakers look to make it two straight against Grizzlies

Lakers look for their fourth straight overall win and fifth in their last six games.

The Lakers are entering a critical back-to-back as the calendar changes to March. But there is one huge problem: LeBron James is out with a foot injury. It had been mentioned that it would be indefinite, although there is hope that it would be only for 2-3 weeks. Still, every game is important and a losing streak could knock the Lakers out early of play-in contention. And they’re barely in a better position than they have been all season.

But no team is going to feel sorry for them. The next opponents are especially not going to; the Memphis Grizzlies, 36-23 and second in the Western Conference, would like to get revenge after what the Lakers did to them on January 20th. The Grizz were riding high on an 11-game winning streak and had dominated most of the contest. But Dennis Schröder swooped in to make a steal and get a three-point play in the waning seconds to take the win from them.

The Grizzlies, who have since gone 5-9 after their loss to the Lakers, are going to do their best not to let that happen. And I assume they’re not going to change much from the last game (dominate the paint, outrebound and outrun the Lakers, play skittish defense). It might be a bit more difficult with Steven Adams still out with a PCL injury. And Memphis is facing a different team, even without LeBron James there.

This is where Anthony Davis needs to play like his MVP self again. He was huge in that comeback win against Dallas (30 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks). While they didn’t shoot well against Dallas from three, they did get some timely shots from players like Malik Beasley and Austin Reaves. Jarred Vanderbilt was everywhere on the court as he grabbed a career-best 17 boards. And of course, Schröder is still on the team. It’s too bad that D’Angelo Russell might still be out with his ankle injury; he’s listed as doubtful for Tuesday night.

At least, the Lakers have been playing better defense as of late. Since February 11 (the first game the new acquisitions played), the Lakers have allowed 106.8 points per 100 possessions. It would be third best in that stretch; the team is 4-1 in that same span. It would actually be better than Milwaukee’s overall defense this season but that is small sample theater. Still, we’ve seen this from the Lakers before in stretches this season and they need to keep that up for the rest of the campaign.

It’s a tall order to take on the Grizzlies with the explosive Ja Morant, sniper Desmond Bane, stopper Jaren Jackson Jr., and forever-irritant Dillon Brooks. But the Lakers, despite this frustrating season, have stayed with all the top teams all season. With March on the horizon, it’s not about moral victories but outright wins on the basketball court for the Los Angeles Lakers. And they’re going to have to do it without the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

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