Lakers dismantle Grizzlies; look forward to Conference Semi-Finals against Warriors

LOS ANGELES - Friday April, 28th - Ja Morant and The Grizzlies are most certainly not fine in the west, Lebron James and Anthony Davis made sure of that. LeBron made it of the utmost importance that the Lakers had the proper urgency to close out their Western Conference first round playoff series in style, and at home in Los Angeles.

Taking into consideration the performance from Anthony Davis on the defensive side of the ball and D'Angelo Russell's great shooting night, Memphis never stood a chance. Let's also not forget that Jack Nicholson was sitting courtside, when is the last time they lost when Jack was courtside. The 86-year-old Nicholson watched his beloved team for the first time since the 2021 season opener, returning to his usual seat alongside his son.

Davis may have only had 16 points, but AD dominated the paint against Memphis while tallying 14 rebounds and five blocks, his presence alone was enough for the Lakers to already have an advantage over Memphis. D'Angelo Russell as well would contribute to LA's dominating Game 6 victory, notching a playoff-career high 31 points in the victory over the Grizzlies.

LeBron James. The Lakers talisman had 22 points on the night on 9-13 shooting after vowing he would be better after game 5, LeBron was. LeBron was back to his regular self on Friday night, all while staying true to the urgency that the Lakers needed in game 6.

“It was definitely a Game 7 mentality for us,” James said. “We understood that we had an opportunity to play in front of our fans, and we wanted to try to end it tonight. We came out with a discipline. From the start of the game, we were just locked in on our game plan all the way until the final seconds.”

The Lakers defended their camp, they won all 3 home games in the series, and capping it off with a dominating performance in Game 6. Game 6 went to show how dangerous LA is when LeBron James and Anthony Davis are at their best.

AD's mere presence in the paint in Game 6 shut down Memphis' offense the entire game, along with Russell's 3 point shooting highlighted and showed the NBA world what this Laker team can be when they're at their best, Dangerous.

The Lakers were up at 20 after the halftime whistle and then were up 36 late in the fourth quarter on their way to victory in front of the Joker himself, Jack Nicholson. Their huge lead allowed for Anthony Davis and LeBron James, their starts to get some needed rest in the fourth quarter. LeBron, AD and the Lakers await the winner of the Kings and Warriors first round series.

Darvin Ham spoke about his team after their convincing win against Memphis, “This thing is just getting started,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “We passed Level 1. Now we’ve got to start shifting our focus to whoever comes out of that game on Sunday. LeBron had some great words of wisdom he shared after the game. It’s about us, just as much as it’s about our opponent. We have to be the best versions of ourselves.”

Ja Morant, who has led the grizzlies throughout the past 2 seasons, however Memphis has only managed to win one playoff series.

You could see throughout the game and series since Game 1, that Ja's injured hand has limited him from playing to his full potential, and along with Davis' defensive dominance throughout the entire game it hampered Ja from driving to the bucket. Morant's teammates also didn't play very well, Desmond Bane, who guaranteed there'd be a game 7 went 5-16 from the field and had 15 points, while Jaren Jackson Jr. had 15 on 3-12 from the field.

Memphis Head Coach Taylor Jenkins spoke on Memphis' performances post-game, “We didn’t play our best basketball at all, in my opinion, in these six games,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We got two wins in this series, but we were far from where we needed to play. Discipline, execution, defensively, the urgency, and then just our production on offense. … (we’ve) just got to find ways to get better. This is a feeling we’ve got to remember. It’s got to motivate us. It’s got to be understood that this is part of our evolution as a team.”

This series was not without drama, as it usually is with Memphis. Dillon Brooks was instigating LeBron all series and would even call him "old" after Game 2. Brooks was ejected in game 3 after striking James in the groin, Brooks played poorly pretty much all series with Laker fans serenating him with boos every time he would touch the ball.

Anthony Davis spoke on Brooks' antics post-game, “People are going to talk,” said Davis, who had 26 blocks in the series. “We’ve had some trash talk on the court in the series, but all the talking in the media, we just go out and let our game talk.”

Brooks didn't talk to the media at all in the series after calling LeBron old.

The Lakers look ahead to the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Golden State Warriors. With whom LeBron has history in past playoffs, let us not forget LeBron won his 3rd ring against the Warriors when he came back from 3-1, something no team had ever done before. The Lakers will need LeBron, AD, and D'Angelo Russell to be at their best if they seek to continue this playoff run.

The Lakers play the Warriors in the Chase Center tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern time, Live on TNT.