Getty Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies takes a shot during the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers.
On Tuesday, February 28, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 109-121 defeat at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies, courtesy of a 39-point performance from All-Star guard Ja Morant.
When speaking to the media after the game, Lakers guard Austin Reaves shared his thoughts on Morant’s performance and what his team could have done differently to contain the explosive scorer.
“Obviously, he’s a really good player…28 in the third? Aw, damn, that’s a lot of points; it’s impressive. You know, there’s definitely things that we’re gonna watch film and see we can do a little different, so you know, try to keep him in control. But he’s an All-Star for a reason, but defensively, we probably just gotta be a little better,” Reaves said.
The Lakers were operating without LeBron James, who missed the game due to injury, and his absence was certainly felt as the Lakers tried to compete against one of the younger, more explosive teams in the NBA.
LeBron James Likely to Miss Multiple Weeks
The Lakers’ chances of making it into the postseason took a hammer blow on February 28, when The Athletics’ Shams Charania, who was speaking on an episode of Fan Duel TV’s Run It Back, reported that their superstar forward would likely miss between two and three weeks with injury.
“LeBron James is expected to miss an indefinite amount of time… I’m told likely at least 2 or 3 weeks”
@ShamsCharania with the latest on LeBron’s foot injury 🤕
“LeBron James is expected to miss an indefinite amount of time. It will be an extended period that he will be out. I’m told likely that it will be at least two or three weeks…As we saw on Sunday, he said on air he heard a pop…This injury comes at a devastating time, and inopportune time, there’s 21 games in the Lakers season left…And now LeBron James is gonna be out an extended period of time,” Charania said.
While the news will be tough to hear for Lakers fans, it was expected. As on Sunday, February 26, LeBron reported ‘hearing a pop’ when playing against the Dallas Mavericks.
Anthony Davis Has Faith in Lakers Roster
When speaking to the media following the Lakers’ loss to Memphis, Anthony Daivs discussed his faith in Los Angeles’ roster to keep things moving in the right direction while LeBron recovers from his injury setback.
“We got a great team. I mean, more than enough to go out and get wins,” Davis said, “We got more than enough to get a win tonight. More than enough to get to win tomorrow. And so on and so forth. Just compete like we did tonight, and don’t turn the ball over. Guys, I think, played extremely hard. Obviously, his presence on the floor, his voice, his playmaking ability, scoring ability will definitely be missed, but other guys just got to step up. I’ll have to step up and just come out and be aggressive.”
The Lakers will need to shrug off their latest loss, as they are set to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, March 1, in what will be the second night of a back-to-back, which will give them the perfect opportunity to bounce straight back into the win column.