Doncic, LeBron lift Lakers to comeback win over Grizzlies

Jake LaRavia added 26 points against his former team and Deandre Ayton chipped in 15 points as the Lakers secured their second home win over Memphis in a span of three days, News.Az reports, citing AP.

The back-to-back victories came after Los Angeles had dropped four of its previous five games.

For Memphis, Jaylen Wells scored 23 points and rookie Cedric Coward finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, all of which came in the first half. Coward did not return after halftime due to an ankle injury. Jaren Jackson Jr. recorded 14 points, while Jock Landale posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who suffered their fourth straight loss.

Memphis was once again without guard Ja Morant, who missed his 15th game in the past 21 contests because of a calf injury.

The Lakers found themselves down by 11 points with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but closed the period with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to 87-83.

Los Angeles pulled even at 92-92 on a driving layup by LaRavia with 7:14 left in the fourth quarter, then took its first lead since the opening quarter at 94-92 on another basket by LaRavia. The lead changed hands several times before the Lakers went ahead for good at 100-99 on a pull-up jumper by Doncic with 5:12 remaining. Doncic then drilled consecutive three-pointers to push the Lakers’ advantage to 112-103 with 2:08 left on the clock.

The Lakers earned the victory despite missing Rui Hachimura for a third straight game because of a calf injury, while Austin Reaves sat out his fourth consecutive contest with the same issue.

Up next:

The Grizzlies will host the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, while the Lakers travel to face the

New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.