LeBron James looked at the Lakers bench, another opportunity wasted, another Grizzlies run delivered.
There wasn’t much else he could do Wednesday night in the final game of the Lakers’ first road trip. He attacked mismatches. He triples home. He fought like hell against Memphis’ giant front line.
His team was short. Anthony Davis’ heel injuryan injury he suffered Monday in Detroit kept him out of action. Illness did the same to Rui Hachimura.
Unlike the losses in Cleveland and Detroit, which ensured this trip would be a nasty one, this wasn’t about a fight. The Lakers turned out for that.
But as his team saw a two-point deficit turn into an 11-point deficit after Memphis made three straight threes, James looked to the bench.
Read more: Anthony Davis unsure if a lingering foot injury will continue to hinder him
There was no anger. It was anger. The Lakers will later lose 131-114, and he could not stop it.
James was terrific – he scored 39 points, made six threes and played with strength. His team did too. They just couldn’t make any shots.
D’Angelo Russell put his hands to his head in disbelief as a three rang out. Austin Reaves yelled to himself after one of his seven misses. And Dalton Knecht, getting his first career NBA start, missed all but one of his seven shots from three — including an air ball.
Meanwhile, Memphis punished the Lakers with mini-flights of their role players. Rookie Jaylen Wells hit back-to-back threes. So did former Lakers two-way center Jay Huff. Scotty Pippen Jr., another former Laker two-way prospect, posed at his former bench after hitting one of his three threes.
Ja Morant, who scored 20 points, had to leave the game with a hamstring injury. But with the Grizzlies making 17 threes, they had more than enough.
In addition to the cold shooting, Knecht had to leave the game after being elbowed in the face by Jake LaRavia. After examining his jaw on the side, he went back to the locker room.
The Lakers finished their trip 1-4. They play Friday at home against Philadelphia, a stretch where six of their next eight games are in their home building.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
