LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers had the edge early against the opponents on Thursday night. They raced out to a quick nine-point lead to end the first quarter and looked ready to overmatch a Memphis Grizzlies side playing without Dillon Brooks and star player Ja Morant.
But instead of piling it on and getting the lead to double-figures, they let it slip away. A back-and-forth affair eventually turned into a lopsided loss the other way, as the purple and gold fell, 108-95.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel was asked if he was surprised that a veteran roster with guys like LeBron James and Russell Westbrook let an early lead slip away instead of adding onto it.
“I wouldn't say I'm surprised,” the Lakers coach said. “I've seen it happen with our group this year. We have to keep out foot on the gas and continue to play. You hope that it's not like that, that it's not the case. But we've seen it with this group. We just got to find a way to prevent that from happening.”
The Lakers have been unable to find any consistent success on the basketball court as they've continued to swap wins with losses, leading to their mediocre 13-13 record. They've failed to string together three consecutive victories in over a month.
“There was just too much of a casualness to our approach,” Vogel continued.
In all fairness to the Lakers, the Grizzlies have been shockingly good without their star point guard Ja Morant. But nonetheless, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis need to be able to put away teams without their best player on any given night.
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