After dominating the Grizzlies at the start of the series in Game 1, the Lakers completely missed their subject in Game 2, logically losing to a collectively much better Memphis team. But the main thing is there, the men of Darvin Ham did the job by taking one of the two meetings in Tennessee. At 1-1, the series now heads to Los Angeles where Games 3 and 4 will be played.
For LeBron JamesGame 3 is the most important game of the series, so it’s out of the question to slack off, especially when you know the quality of the opposing team.
“There is always a way to improve. It’s a 1-1 series, both teams are tied, both teams think they can win on each other’s ground, so it’s not reassuring to go home. And we shouldn’t feel comfortable going home at 1-1” insisted LeBron James. “Game 3 is the most important of the series and if we are not on our guard before this game, they can very easily come to our city, to our field and regain the advantage in the series”.
A first since 2013!
With the advantage of the ground recovered, the Lakers will however have the opportunity to validate the control of the series in front of their supporters. A public that they have missed so much in recent years, because if the Lakers have already played in the playoffs twice under the LeBron James era, the health restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic have not allowed the franchise to truly perform in front of his fans.
Indeed, when the Lakers won the title in 2020, the playoffs were taking place in the Orlando bubble, while in 2021 capacity was limited to around 8,000 people in the room.
Saturday’s Game 3 against the Grizzlies will therefore be the Lakers’ first home game in the playoffs in a full house since 2013! Suffice to say that the atmosphere promises to be electric, to the delight of LeBron James.
“We had Thursday to pull ourselves together, another day Friday to go home and focus on what needs to be done” added LeBron James right after Game 2. “Saturday, it will happen on the pitch. I am very happy to have the opportunity to play another playoff game. I think it’s our first… it’s our first game at home, isn’t it? In front of our supporters, right, in the postseason? It’s the first time. I am enthusiastic “.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| lebron james | 55 | 35.5 | 50.0 | 32.1 | 76.8 | 1.2 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 28.9 |
| Anthony Davis | 56 | 34.0 | 56.3 | 25.7 | 78.4 | 3.5 | 9.1 | 12.5 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 25.9 |
| D’angelo Russell | 17 | 30.9 | 48.4 | 41.4 | 73.5 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 6.1 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 17.4 |
| Russell Westbrook | 52 | 28.7 | 41.7 | 29.6 | 65.5 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 15.9 |
| Austin Reaves | 64 | 28.8 | 52.9 | 39.8 | 86.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 13.0 |
| Dennis Schroder | 66 | 30.1 | 41.5 | 32.9 | 85.7 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 12.6 |
| Thomas Bryant | 41 | 21.4 | 65.4 | 44.0 | 74.1 | 1.6 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 12.1 |
| lonnie walker | 56 | 23.2 | 44.8 | 36.5 | 85.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 11.7 |
| Malik Beasley | 26 | 23.9 | 39.2 | 35.3 | 61.9 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 11.1 |
| Rui Hachimura | 33 | 22.4 | 48.5 | 29.6 | 72.1 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 9.6 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt | 26 | 24.0 | 52.9 | 30.3 | 78.4 | 1.9 | 4.8 | 6.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 7.2 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 76 | 24.5 | 43.0 | 38.1 | 87.2 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 7.1 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 39 | 13.5 | 40.6 | 32.5 | 81.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 6.7 |
| Patrick Beverly | 45 | 26.9 | 40.2 | 34.8 | 78.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 6.4 |
| Wenyen Gabriel | 68 | 15.1 | 59.6 | 27.8 | 61.9 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 5.5 |
| matt ryan | 12 | 10.8 | 30.6 | 37.1 | 80.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| Mohammad Bamba | 9 | 9.8 | 40.7 | 31.3 | 54.5 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 3.7 |
| Max Christie | 41 | 12.5 | 41.5 | 41.9 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 3.1 |
| Juan Toscano Anderson | 30 | 12.2 | 50.0 | 20.0 | 73.3 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| Damian Jones | 22 | 8.0 | 54.1 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| Scotty Pippen, Jr. | 6 | 5.3 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 55.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| cole swider | 7 | 5.8 | 33.3 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| davon reed | 8 | 3.4 | 75.0 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Sterling Brown | 4 | 6.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
