Tonight the Lakers returned to Staples after a short two game road trip to face off against the Memphis Grizzlies. Saying that the Lakers were shorthanded for this game would be a crime- without Pau or Andrew, Phil was forced to start DJ Mbenga to combat the size of Marc Gasol. It turned out that none of this mattered because Kobe Bryant said it didn’t matter; Kobe turned in one of the better performances of this early season, scoring 41 points on 19-30 from the field and absolutely destroying the confidence of OJ Mayo in the process.

1st Quarter LAL 22 – MEM22

The Lakers started out strong, riding the energy of DJ Mbenga and the precision post moves of Kobe Bryant to a 7-0 run after the first Memphis basket.  With Mbenga anchoring the paint on the defensive end and Kobe executing the offense, it looked as if the Lakers weren’t going to miss a beat.  Unfortunately, the Lakers went away from Kobe and started missing easy looks.  Phil went to Farmar off the bench first, and as usual he closed the quarter strong.  You have to like what you’re seeing from Jordan right now- when he’s in the game he’s making confident, aggressive decisions with the ball, and making open shots.  The end of the quarter saw the Lakers up 25-22, but the pace had definitely slowed.

1st Quarter Highlights/Notes:

• Kobe Bryant: I promise that you’re going to see Kobe in the highlights section for every quarter. He started off the game taking advantage of overaggressive defense by Mayo and never looked back.  It was great to see Kobe get some EASY early baskets rather than forcing early jumpers.
• DJ Mbenga: I was initially scared about this game, but after the first few minutes my nerves had faded.  Mbenga brought his defensive A–game tonight and really hit the boards hard.

2nd Quarter LAL 24 – MEM 29

The slow pace that ended the first carried into the second quarter.  With the second team in, it appeared as if they were going to let another lead slip away.  Thanks to some amazing hustle from Farmar, aggressive defense from Sasha, and the anchor of Ron Ron, the Lakers were able to actually build up a little lead. This was probably the best that that unit has played this season.   Phil eventually returned to his starters, and this meant that we got to see more of OJ Mayo sinking instead of swimming against Kobe.   I can’t remember the last time there was such an obvious mismatch on the floor and the opposing coach doing ABSOLUTELY nothing to help all night.  At some point you have to send a consistent hard double to get the ball out of Kobe’s hands!  Even with the amazing play of Kobe, who closed the quarter strong, Memphis was able to take a two point lead into the break.

2nd Quarter Highlights/Notes:

• Lost: Where is Lamar? Lamar has to step up on that second unit. He is missing shots he normally makes, although I must say, his outside shot looks much improved (even over the playoffs last season)
• Kobe Bryant: Kobe hit a ridiculous stutter fade away from the elbow and hit 24,000 points for his career, the youngest player to do so.
• Ron Artest’s Missed Dunk: He basically hung himself on the rim and ate it on the floor. If I can find a video of this I’ll embed it in the post because it’s ridiculous. He redeemed himself with a nice reverse on the next play.

3rd Quarter LAL 38 – MEM 24

As if you needed to be reminded, Kobe came out of the gates firing and hit two quick dunks/layups working without the ball.  I honestly have never seen him score this much without creating.   You can tell he focused on becoming a midrange/back to the basket assassin this offseason, and its already paying off.   His moves are crisp.  I don’t know how else to put it.  Aside from Kobe absolutely demolishing Mayo, there was Ron Artest.   Throughout the quarter he hit open shots within the flow of the offense.   I can honestly say that this was his best game as a Laker; completely under control and within the triangle.   His points were a plus (19), but his seven assists tied Walton and Fisher for the Lakers lead. With Kobe, Ron and Fisher hitting open shots, the Lakers were able to stretch the lead and really stick it to the Grizzlies this quarter.  The defensive intensity after the half was palpable. The Grizzlies easy baskets and open looks were replaced by contested shots resulting from one on one basketball.  Their main advantage in this game was almost completely ignored, while the Griz basically played perimeter basketball for the last two quarters.  Once the third period came to a close, the Lakers had built up a 87-75 lead and held the Grizzlies to 8-21 shooting from the field.  In comparison, the Lakers shot a clean 18-24 -- thank Kobe for most of that.

3rd Quarter Highlights/Notes:

• Kobe Bryant’s Nonstop Post Move Highlight Reel: It felt like everything that he shot with his back to the basket was going in. He was hitting shots from the low block, the elbow- you name it.  Two plays really stood out: 1.) Luke threw a perfect outlet to Kobe who basically went 1-on-3 and got his OWN BOARD and hit a ridiculous fadeaway over two defenders. 2.) Kobe closing the third with another dagger shot in the face of OJ Mayo.  He will have nightmares about this game, trust me.  He might not be able to sleep after this, it was that bad.

4th Quarter LAL 27 – MEM 23

The second unit was able to get in some good run early in the game, and it carried over to the fourth quarter.  Luke had a very “Luke-like” game, with 7 dimes, 7 boards and only 1 turnover.  Josh Powell had another great run and even hit a three from the corner.  Overall, this was a great win for the Lakers, a shorthanded blowout that the BENCH PLAYED WELL IN.   I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of saying that yet this season (I know its early, I do have faith in our bench…I swear).  I’ll close with this: I’m not sure how, but at one point the Grizzlies got the lead down to 11 or so… Phil put Kobe back in.  I was positive that Memphis would double Kobe, I mean how could you let him play 1 on 1 versus Mayo after what had transpired the whole game?  You just got the game within striking distance!  As soon as Kobe entered the game, he went back into the post. Shockingly, Mayo was playing him straight up and Kobe proceeded to top 40 points for the 3rd time this season. Thank you Coach Hollins!  My fantasy team loves you!

4th Quarter Highlights/Notes:

• Artest’s Hustle: One play I have to highlight really shows what Ron can bring to this team.  After missing a gimme layup on the offensive end, Ron got all the way back down the court, stole the ball on the weakside baseline, and threw a full court touchdown pass to Josh Powell for the dunk.  Thank you free agency.

Final Score Lakers 114 – Grizzlies 98
Official Box Score

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