It’s more than fair to say the Los Angeles Lakers would be struggling this season if it wasn’t for their superstar duo; a reality the NBA was emphatically reminded of on Friday night.

In the Lakers’ 123-120 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum on Friday, LeBron James and Anthony Davis once again put the team on their backs. The pair became the first Lakers duo since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to each score over 35 points and dish five assists in a single game.

LeBron James & Anthony Davis – Stats vs Grizzlies

Category
LeBron James
Anthony Davis

PTS
37
36

AST
5
5

REB
9
14

FG%
65.0
50.0

3PT%
42.9
16.7

None of their Lakers teammates managed to reach the 15-point mark on the night. Meanwhile, the lowly Grizzlies put up a fight on their home floor, with four of their five starters scoring over 23 points. Rookie GG Jackson managed a team-high 31 points — sinking seven threes — while Jordan Goodwin gave Davis a battle down-low with 23 points and 17 rebounds.

Lakers Ending Season On High Note

LeBron: “I’ll be ready for Sunday.”

Los Angeles is playing some its best basketball of the season as the 2023-24 campaign winds to a close. With a 7-3 record over their last 10, LeBron and Co. have fought hard in ensuring as high a seed as possible for the inevitable Play-In Tournament.

The Lakers have gone 16-9 since the All-Star break, resurrecting a season that looked doomed to end in an early playoff – or Play-In – exit. While the win over the Grizzlies was less than convincing, every win matters at this point of the season.

“There’s some things we definitely got to clean up but we needed to win this game and we won it.” – Darvin Ham

As it stands, Los Angeles is set to face the Phoenix Suns in the Play-In Tournament. The Lakers are 3-2 against the Suns this season.