Lakers vs Grizzlies (4/5/13)

With their playoff lives in the balance, the Lakers had to scratch and claw their way through a battle with the Memphis Grizzlies.  They eeked out 86-84 victory to maintain a 0.5 game lead over Utah for the final playoff spot.

Memphis is one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.  They hold their opponents to average of 89.8 points per game.  So going into the game it was imperative that the Lakers match the Grizzlies on the defensive end of the floor.  In the first half the Lakers did a good job of that.  They were able to contest shots at the rim, recover to the perimeter, and rebound.  On offense they ran a healthy dose of high screen and roll which opened up a ton of 15 footers for Pau who knocked them down with regularity.  The missed some bunny shots though, and went to the break at half time with a 7 point lead despite being up by as many as 13.

In the second half, Memphis got their licks in on D.  They intercepted several bad passes from the Lakers to convert them to points, and even opened up a 5 point lead of their own.  Steve Blake was the culprit in several of those turnovers.  He seemed to be getting down on himself for making obvious mistakes. Grizzlies guard Mike Conley went right at him on O, seemingly scoring at will. Credit Blake though for keeping his head in the game and drilling two crucial 3's (both of which came when the Lakers down and gave them the lead).  Basketball is so much about confidence.  You play better when you're confident, so it was nice to see Blake shake off the mistakes and keep moving.

This game came down to the wire.  With the Lakers up by 1, Dwight Howard was sent to the free throw line on a loose ball foul from Zach Randolph. Staples Center collectively held their breath in anticipation.  He made 1 of 2 leaving the Lakers with a 2 point lead about 4 seconds on the clock.  As maligned as their defense has been, it would come down to a final stop to secure the victory.  Out of the timeout Conley tried to score on a drive to the hoop.  He was met with the resistance of Howard and Gasol who altered his shot and forced the miss.  Lakers win, and live to fight another day.

Notables:

The Good:
- Earl Clark was everywhere again tonight.  Bringing tons of energy with his put back dunks and dunk-stuffing blocks.  His hustle was key.
- Gasol was great with 19 points and 9 rebounds.  After the game Kobe said they are finally, "Using him the right way."
- Kobe did a good job balancing facilitator and scorer
- The team got stops when they needed to

The Bad:
- 18 turnovers is too much.  With so many of them being forced bad passes it makes it worse.  Those should be correctable however.
- Foul trouble for Dwight in the second half
- Still too many miscues on defensive assignments, but at least the effort was there

The Lakers had to win to maintain their playoff spot.  From this point on they've got to match whatever Utah does at a minimum since Utah owns the tie breaker.  Kobe says he would have it no other way.  They'll play the Clippers tomorrow in another crucial game.