Getty Jarred Vanderbilt of the Los Angeles Lakers.
On Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers took home a win in their first playoff game of the year. Despite heading into the contest as the seven seed facing off against the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, the Lakers still got things done.
Led by Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, the Lakers found ways to score the ball outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But defensively, they came to play, too. At one point, Jarred Vanderbilt made a huge play, drawing a charge on Ja Morant, and after the game, head coach Darvin Ham sang his praises.
“It’s a testament to him, and it’s a teachable moment for all young basketball players out there,” Ham said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “They just think it’s all about making threes or dunking on people or whatever. If you’re able to lock in defensively, rebound, and really embrace that role, there will always be a place for you on a high-level basketball team and in a high-level league such as the NBA. His ability to just lock in and be selfless. Taking tough matchups. Diving on the floor. Doing the dirty work. Setting screens. Going to the second or third action when he’s involved. It’s great. It’s invaluable. And I’m just happy we have an asset like that on our roster.”
In the box score, Vanderbilt didn’t put up great stats. He finished the night with four points and four rebounds on 2-of-4 shooting from the field. However, he made plenty of the little plays he’s become known for since joining the team at the trade deadline.
Austin Reaves Credits Lakers Squad
Meanwhile, after the game, Reaves spoke highly of his teammates. The Lakers were able to dominate the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter. Reaves credited Hachimura, James, Davis, and D’Angelo Russell for their play, as it helped propel the Lakers to a big-time win.
“Just playing hard,” Reaves said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “We got guys that have been in this position. LeBron [James and] AD. D-Lo [D’Angelo Russell] is a big-time player. Rui played great tonight. So, it was all about just closing the game. We were right there the whole game, it’s a game of runs, but we got those guys to close games. It was a good win.”
Lakers’ LeBron James Shows Love to Austin Reaves
In addition, after the game, James shared the love. He gave a ton of credit to Reaves for his part in the Lakers victory.
“We trust him with the ball in his hands early in the game and late in the game,” James said via House of Highlights. “So we got something going in the fourth quarter, and after every stop or if we didn’t get a stop or whatever, I think Jaren Jackson went on like a 5-0 run by himself when we went up seven, we went back to AR and just put the ball in his hands, he was able to hit a pull-up two, able to hit a three when they kind of had a soft switch and then hit another pull-up two to put us up eight. So he closed the game for us offensively.”
