Lakers News

LeBron James gives brutally honest assessment of his performance in Lakers-Grizzlies Game 5

Published by
Zach Stevens

The Los Angeles Lakers came into Game 5 against the Memphis Grizzlies looking to win the series. Instead, they fell in a 116-99 blowout.

LeBron James had a very poor outing, shooting just 5-of-17 from the field and committing five turnovers, and he was brutally honest about how he played while promising to put forth a better performance in Game 6.

James played 45 minutes in L.A.’s Game 4 overtime win, and fatigue seems to be an issue with him recently. On Wednesday, he wasn’t the force he usually is off the dribble. He took a lot of outside shots, but he couldn’t get it done in that department, as he missed all but one of his nine 3-point attempts.

The Lakers trailed for most of the game, and although they made a run early in the third quarter to come to within one point, they simply didn’t have a great chance of actually pulling ahead and building a lead with James playing well beneath his standards.

Anthony Davis, who had a bad outing in Game 4, was dominant from start to finish with 31 points and 19 rebounds, but no one else was a consistent offensive threat for Los Angeles.

On the other side, Ja Morant and Desmond Bane, the Grizzlies’ talented starting backcourt, played outstanding ball, scoring 31 and 33 points, respectively. Both of them also came down with 10 rebounds each. The Lakers simply couldn’t find a way to contain either of them, even after holding Morant down very well in Game 4.

The series will now move back to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for Game 6, which will take place on Friday, and it has suddenly gotten a lot more interesting.

While the Lakers are the early favorites to win and put the series away, another win by the Grizzlies could tip the scales in their favor for Game 7, especially if James has another subpar game on the road in Tennessee with the series up for grabs.

Zach Stevens

Zach has always had a profound love and respect for the Lakers that has inspired him to write about the franchise. He has a great deal of admiration for LeBron James, and his overall knowledge about the NBA has made him a solid addition to the Lakers Daily staff.

Published by
Zach Stevens

Recent Posts

LeBron declines to say he’s healthy ahead of Game 1 vs. Timberwolves: ‘I’m available’

In one of the final games of the Los Angeles Lakers' 2024-25 regular season, star…

April 19, 2025

Ex-teammate says Anthony Edwards has waited ‘whole life’ to face LeBron in playoffs: ‘I know the kid personally’

Nearly all of the matchups in the upcoming 2025 NBA Playoffs are set in stone,…

April 18, 2025

Paul Pierce says he thought he and Kobe were ‘gonna go to blows’ after he yelled at him about 2008 Finals: ‘Choke’

Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce got the better of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant…

April 18, 2025

Phil Handy told Austin Reaves to ‘shoot the f——g ball’ as soon as he met him: ‘You wanna make this team?’

During a podcast appearance, former Los Angeles Lakers assistant Phil Handy shared a story about…

April 16, 2025

Dwight Howard says Thunder are ‘afraid’ of Lakers: ‘I see no problems with OKC’

Heading into the 2025 NBA Playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder might just be the team…

April 15, 2025

Rashad McCants theorizes Bradley Beal would’ve had no problem being asked to ‘play like Kobe Bryant’

In the wake of Mike Budenholzer getting dismissed from his job as the head coach…

April 15, 2025