Memphis, Tenn. – LeBron James, who was sitting on the postgame stand after the Lakers’ 116-99 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, furrowed his brow and gave a sharp assessment of his sub-par performance.
“Tonight I was -” James said of his 15-point (5-of-17 total shooting, 1-of-9 3-point) five turnover.
Then he quickly made a promise to the Friday 6th game in Los Angeles.
“I’m going to be better in Game 6,” James stated.
James was far from the only reason the Lakers lost Game 5 of the Western Conference first round series.
The Grizzlies had the best home team in the NBA this season (35-6). They were desperate with their season on the line. Desmond Bane (33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists) set Los Angeles on fire for the second straight game and became a real problem. He also shook Ja Morant (31 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists) for the second time in three games. Aside from Anthony Davis (31 points, 19 rebounds (tied for a playoff high) and 2 blocks), Laker never scored more than 17 points. Lakers coach Darvin Ham continues to field smaller bench units that can neither score nor defend when Davis is off the ground.
However, the playoffs are often dictated by the stars. James did better – more drive instead of 3-second stability, more precise finishing around the edge, crisper passes and a tighter grip – likely keeping the game from spinning out of control as it did (twice). James’ five turnovers all occurred in the first half, which put Memphis ahead by double digits for most of that stretch. While James added 10 rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes, his field goal percentage of 29.4 percent was the lowest in a playoff game since Game 5 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals (2-of-10, 20 percent).
Bane and Morant turned this into an all-star shootout – at least by the standards of the series, which was very much a rockstar battle between two elite defensemen. Davis came back from his disappointing Game 4, matching Morant’s total. But the Lakers needed more from James, and he didn’t deliver that night.
James opened the game aggressively, with Austin Reeves laying a screen backspin to his release for a backslash and a sloppy alley. He then missed his next six shots, three of which were three-pointers. His next make was another alley-yard hit, this time throwing the ball into the transition from a lob of Reeves. James’ third style was also an all-around, this time after Luke Kennard was locked at the post and pushed towards the edge for a throw-in.
This bucket got the 38-year-old down a little groove. He scored as a rolling man in a catching move with Reaves, who found him with a shot running through a forest of guns in the paint. Finally, James finally gets a three-pointer to fall, though he bounces in and out before falling back again. Then, though, he missed his last five field goals – all in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles tried to take a late lead.
Hamm questioned James’ performance for the Memphis defense, which limited him to 48.9 effective field goal percentage for the series—the stat that accounts for a 3-pointer extra point.
“They’re just playing a physical game,” Hamm said. “They’re shutting it down. It’s (Dillon) Brooks on it, it’s (Xavier) Tillman, it’s (Jarren) Jackson (Jr). These guys are all very capable, experienced defenders. They all play a physical defensive style individually. … They show you the bodies. The thing The main one is to remove the paint. We just have to figure out ways, same thing we did with AD, just figure out a way to move it.”
But since when is that an acceptable explanation for the NBA’s all-time leading scorer?
For 20 years, teams and defensemen have played physically against James. He always had an answer, tackling them on or off the ball, in the paint or behind the three-point line. But that wasn’t the case in Game 5 — nor has it been for parts of the series.
The 38-year-old James struggled on the attacking end with his high standards. Look at his point totals per game: 21, 28, 25, 22, and 15. Only Game 2 and 3 qualify as typical postseason outputs for James. For the series, he averaged 22.2 points, 12.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.6 blocks in 38.3 minutes per game — good numbers for most people, but not for him.
His shooting splits are uncharacteristically bad: 45.7% from the field, 16.7% from 3, 67.9% from the free throw line. After a 3-of-8 3-point performance in Game 1, James has now gone 3-of-28 in 3s in four games since. To be clear, his shooting struggles are not due to Brooks’ defense. James shoots 58.1 percent against Brooks in the series, hitting 44 points on 31 shots, according to NBA.com. He even hit 27.3 percent in his 3s, which is above his series average.
“We have a lot of things in our group to be able to give him different areas to be in attack mode,” Hamm said. “But Bron is one of the greatest who ever did it. We will definitely put our heads together and figure out the best plan of action.”
James Clincher’s Biography needs no introduction. His GOAT status is bolstered by having more playoff wins than any player in NBA history, playing more minutes than any player in playoff history and ranking in the top 10 in nearly every notable category. He is one of the best playoff players of all time – if not the best of all time.
There’s a reasonable chance that James will come out with a vintage performance in Game 6 or, if necessary, Game 7, icing the series and reminding everyone that it’s foolish to doubt him, even a little bit. It’s happened time and time again – including, most recently, at the critical moments of Game 4 of the series. James found other ways to be effective, such as three blocks in Game 1 and 20 rebounds in Game 4.
But James was only weeks removed from a serious foot injury — an injury he indicated wouldn’t fully heal until after the season, and likely only after surgery. He’s had several impressive, dominant moments over the past month, but he’s also had moments where he’s strangely not blown away and seems to tire faster (like in Game 5).
James can still run it in spurts, as he did during his pivotal possessions in Game 4. But whether due to injury, miles, fatigue or all three, it’s unclear how many times he can do that throughout the entire playoff game at this point. This is something the Lakers will ultimately need from him if they are going to fulfill their potential and make a serious playoff run. His efforts elsewhere — defense, rebounding — seem to take some of the scoring, which the Lakers desperately need.
When asked if he was physically exhausted after his heroics in the Game 4 overtime win, James refused to use that as an excuse.
He said sternly, “I’m fine.”
James was then asked a follow-up question about how he thought it would feel before Game 6.
“I don’t know,” James said, shrugging. “It’s two days from now. I have no idea. I’m obviously going to take care of my body and try to get as much sleep as possible and see how quickly my body recovers to get ready for Friday. So, we’ll see.”
The turning point in the game occurred with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter when Hamm tapped Davis. The Lakers, who closed the deficit after trailing by as much as 14 points during the first 32 minutes of the game, rushed off the floor from that point on. Memphis scored seven goals in a row before Hamm called a timeout to put Davis back on the floor. By that point, the damage was done and the momentum definitely swung in the Grizzlies’ favor. Their run stretched from 7-0 to 26-2 and the Lakers have never come close to 12 points.
Although the Los Angeles bench has outperformed the Memphis bench during the series, the Minutes that don’t belong on Davis’ squad – with James and Rui Hachimura in teams in the paint, often flanked by Troy Brown Jr., Malik Beasley and Dennis Schroeder – It was a disaster. in most parts of the series. Los Angeles was outscored by 33 points in the 55 minutes Davis was off the bench while plus-55 in the 190 minutes he played.
James took over the group’s problems in Game 5, again citing his poor performance.
“It starts with me,” said James. “Tonight I wasn’t good at all. Defending was good. Offensively, I wasn’t really good. So, we all have to do better by helping each other.”
Hamm decided to keep his late starts until the fourth, hoping they could muster a late comeback. Once that seemed unlikely, he pulled James, who signaled to the sideline that he was ready to come out, at the 4:40 mark.
“He and I made eye contact, and we had a non-verbal discussion,” Hamm said. “It was time. We’re going to need him big on Friday. It was time.”
Davis, who is receiving “around the clock” treatment for playing through his nagging thigh soreness, said he tried to lift James after the game.
“After the second game, when I played like shit, I would lower my head and he would tell me to keep my head up,” said Davis. “And I relayed the same message to him tonight. You got the most points ever, you’re the best basketball player who ever touched the court. So that’s okay. He’s going to be OK. He’s going to adapt. He’s going to get better.”
Hamm, who has tallied more minutes for his stars than most coaches this postseason, said the Lakers would “do what we need to do” to win Game 6 when asked if he would extend the playing time of his best players. Davis, who played only 35 minutes, two fewer than James’ 37, said he was willing to play “42, 45, 48 minutes,” if needed in Game 6. The same logic applies in theory to James, who has already scored 45 minutes. In Game 4 due to the extra period, despite the short turnaround.
The Lakers were undefeated at home in the postseason (3-0) when their championship victory included the Minnesota Timberwolves.
win and start the Western Conference Semifinals on Sunday or Tuesday, depending on how the Kings-Warriors series is played. The loss and Memphis will have a chance to become the 14th team in NBA history to win a series after falling behind 3-1 – with most of the pressure returning to the Lakers as they returned to Memphis for Game 7 on Sunday.
“The crowd will automatically give you an extra boost,” James said of the atmosphere of Game 6. “But we also have to be mentally closed and understand the tasks for as close to 48 minutes as possible.”
Coming into Wednesday’s game, James has the best winning percentage (. 780, 39-11) in shutout games in playoff history (at least 25 games), according to Statmuse. (After the loss, James is tied with Derek Fisher at 39-12 – a . 765 winning percentage.) He averaged 28.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks in those games.
Sooner rather than later, the Lakers will need James’ trademark performance. He has another shot on Friday.
(Photo by LeBron James and Ja Morant: Justin Ford/Getty Images)