Source: Ronald Martinez / Getty
The Ja Morant-led squad was the second seed leading into the postseason, but having
LeBron James in the playoffs continues to be a cheat code.
James and the team went into the game 3-2 with a home game and destroyed the Grizzles in a 125-85 win.
In Game 5, James had an off shooting night, but he approached this contest as if it was Game 7 and proceeded to put 22 points on the Grizzlies’ head, but it was D’Angelo Russell who took over the game for the Lakers, dropping an impressive 31 points.
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“It was definitely a Game 7 mentality for us,”
James said after the game. “We understood that we had an opportunity to play in front of our fans, and we wanted to try to end it tonight.”
Anthony Davis made history Friday night by finishing the game with five blocks, adding up to a total of 97 career playoff blocks, tied with
Dennis Rodman.
Despite the Lakers’ success, the bigger storyline was the Grizzlies’ loss. Dillon Brooks has been nagging LeBron James with comments like, “I don’t care, he’s old. I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40, so I pride myself on what I do as defense and taking on any challenge that’s on the board.”
Ironically the Lakers would beat the Grizzlies by 40 points to move on to the next round of playoffs, and Brooks left the locker room before the media entered.
Ja Morant also had to answer for his previous comments, like when he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews in December that he was “fine in the West.”
Morant was indeed not fine in the West and had to eat his words when asked about the quote after the heartbreaking loss, saying, “I don’t mind. I don’t care. I said it. I’ll deal with it.”
See how Twitter’s reacting to the Lakers sending the Grizzlies home below.
