LeBron James praises the Lakers’ auxiliary players following Game 1 victory

The Los Angeles Lakers held onto a six-point lead as Game 1 of their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies reached the fourth quarter on Sunday.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis each took just one shot in the opening 11 minutes of the fourth frame.

However, L.A. came back to win 128-112 thanks to a bench player and a player who was undrafted after college just two years ago.

Rui Hachimura tied Mychal Thompson’s Lakers franchise record for most points by a substitute in a playoff game by scoring nine of his 29 points in the fourth quarter. Austin Reaves scored nine points in a row late in the fourth quarter and finished with a total of 23 points after going 5-for-5 in the quarter.

James, who finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks, remarked, “Our supporting cast won us the game tonight.

The Lakers needed more effort from their team because the situation was uncertain at the half. Davis left the game late in the second quarter after suffering a stinger to his right shoulder. He finished the game with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 7 blocks, and 3 steals, making him the only player since Tim Duncan over 20 years ago to record those kinds of postseason stats.

At the time, the Lakers were behind by six.

When Hachimura shot 4-for-4 from three in the final six seconds of the third quarter, L.A. regained control. They were all shots that the fourth-year forward, who was acquired in a trade with Washington in late January, said he deliberately worked before the series, with Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy researching the Grizzlies’ defensive openings that Hachimura could target.

Hachimura stated, “I have to be ready to shoot those kind of shots because of the way they guard me, they’re going to be in the paint.”

Desmond Bane of the Grizzlies acknowledged this while posing a challenge to Hachimura in Game 2.

“That was our game plan going in — make him hit shots, and he did,” Bane said. “Raise your hat. He had maybe his finest game of his career today. Seven games make up the series. Wednesday, let’s see if he can repeat it.

Reaves completed the list. He was an undrafted player out of Oklahoma who initially signed a two-way contract with the Lakers in the summer of 2021. Before the start of the following season, he was upgraded to a full-time player.

You imagine yourself on a stage like this, Reaves remarked. And I had fun and got hot late.

For the first time since May 15, 1988, when James Worth, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Byron Scott did it, the Lakers had four players score 20 points or more in the playoffs. Additionally, D’Angelo Russell (19 points, 7 assists) came close to making it five.

Although Los Angeles had won 10 of its previous 12 games, including the play-in victory against Minnesota on Tuesday to claim the No. 7 seed vs No. 2 Memphis, there were indications of a decline. In their final four regular-season games, which included a defeat to the Clippers, the Lakers didn’t play well, and their performance against Minnesota was, at best, fragmented and, at worst, reckless.

The four days between the victory against the Wolves and Game 1 versus Memphis, according to Lakers coach Darvin Ham, allowed his squad to reassess.

Possessions slipped away from us during the play-in game in the last week of the season, according to Ham. “We lost possessions by passing once or not at all, then shooting.”

After James and Davis gave a team message about the increased effort needed for the playoffs, L.A. locked in and appears to have regained the momentum that propelled them to the playoffs in the first place.

How can we get the greatest output possible from this group in the best way possible? Ham stated, outlining the purpose of the vacation. And in this manner. This is what will work against this team, and it is something we should investigate and set aside. I believed it was a result of a mix of all of those factors, including being fresh and examining our offensive critically to determine its strengths and weaknesses.

James concentrated on some of the negatives from Sunday while the Lakers opened the series with a statement victory, taking the Grizzlies’ home-court advantage as they try to become the first No. 7 seed to pull off an upset in the first round since San Antonio in 2010. He acknowledged that the Grizzlies scored 15 points as a result of L.A.’s 16 turnovers and accepted responsibility for his own five of those.

James remarked, “I felt the boys were extremely good tonight and I think they obviously grasped that task. However, I believe we can do much better.