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From the perspective of Austin Reaves, the Los Angeles Lakers simply didn't play hard enough in Game 2.
The Memphis Grizzlies leveled the first-round playoff series 1-1 after a 103-93 win over the Lakers on Wednesday night. The Lakers — especially Anthony Davis — simply missed too many shots as the Grizzlies raced to a 59-45 lead at half-time.
While Darvin Ham's men did go on a run in the second half to make a game out of it, it was ultimately too little, too late. In the process, the Grizzlies — who had the league's best home record at 35-6 — maintained their run of not losing consecutive games at home since the 2022-23 campaign began following their Game 1 defeat.
It was also another win without star man Ja Morant who left Game 1 early with a hand injury. But to most who have been paying attention to the Grizzlies since last season, missing Morant was not going to be a major problem as Tyus Jones seamlessly slotted in and posted 10 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.
The Grizzlies notably went 20-5 without Morant last season and 10-8 this year prior to the game, and so, Reaves and the rest of the Lakers certainly knew it would be a challenge facing a Morant-less Memphis team — one they couldn't overcome.
“They have proven in the last two years that they play really good basketball with or without him,” Austin Reaves said. “So, we knew it was going to be a challenge. They were desperate and they played harder than us.”
Regardless, the Lakers will still be happy overall after stealing a road win in Game 1 as they head back home to Los Angeles for Game 3 which takes Saturday at Crypto Arena.
