Over the past few weeks, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has been playing some remarkable ball at 38 years of age, but he had an iffy performance on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
After the game, Dillon Brooks talked about the strategy he used to defend James, who went just 8-of-21 from the field.
Dillon Brooks on defending LeBron: “He doesn’t want to go left. I was just making him go left all game. Then he would settle or he would pass the ball. And then play physical with him. Continuously bump him all of the time. And don’t let him take easy shots.” pic.twitter.com/zE7zlhAVo5
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) January 21, 2023
Forcing James to his left and making him live off jump shots has seemed to be a strategy that has worked at times against him over the years. Of course, it is much easier said than done.
But the Grizzlies have the personnel to get it done, as they have multiple key players with size, length and defensive ability. They came into Friday’s contest ranked first in defensive rating and were riding an 11-game winning streak.
It was a rough game for the Lakers as a whole. They shot just 40.9 percent overall and 31.7 percent from 3-point range, as Memphis sealed off the lane and forced L.A. to try many long jumpers.
To make matters worse, the Lakers got outrebounded 63-47 and gave up 39 second-chance points.
But somehow, they clawed back throughout the fourth quarter and made it a contest after falling behind by 13 in the third, and they were able to finally take the lead on a steal and bucket by Dennis Schroder in the final seconds.
With James struggling, his teammates did much of the heavy lifting. Schroder had 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Russell Westbrook looked like his vintage self with 29 points.
The Lakers badly needed the victory, as they had lost four of their last five games, with three of those losses coming in close games.
Just a week away from the start of a difficult five-game road trip, L.A. appears to be close to getting Anthony Davis back. He could return in about a week, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
In the meantime, the Lakers will prepare to battle the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in a winnable game for Los Angeles.
