D’Angelo Russell had an exceptional night from the floor as the Lakers blew out the Grizzlies in Game 6 to advance to the next round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Los Angeles Lakers are on to the second round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. On Friday night, they put an emphatic end to the Memphis Grizzlies with a blowout Game 6 victory in L.A., winning 125-85.
In the contest, the Lakers fought back from an early Memphis surge to build to an early lead. They didn’t look back much after that.
This game was in the Lakers’ hand and they turned on the gas in the third, making the score look silly as they built a 33-point lead heading into the final quarter. Crypto.com Arena was rocking as LA was able to assert itself and advance.
Who were the driving forces in the win for the Lakers? Let’s take a look.
Lakers: 3 reasons LA clinched series win with Game 6 victory over Grizzlies
3. D’Angelo Russell
D’Angelo Russell was cooking from deep in this game. He hit one in the first quarter and then didn’t seem to stop. Coming into Friday’s closeout game, he hadn’t been great — but he was special in Game 6. Russell ended up with 31 points while shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point range.
Russell’s offense led the Lakers to their blowout and he had the best performance on the night from both squads. LA will need him to ride that high from the closeout win into the second round to have a chance of advancing again in the playoffs.
2. LeBron James
The King from Akron wanted to make sure this series didn’t go to seven games by putting in a very solid performance on the floor. James was a very solid playmaker in this game as he was creating shots for his teammates in this one. James ended up with 22 points on 69 percent shooting from the floor while adding six assists and five rebounds.
LeBron was amazing in this series. If the Lakers want to advance to the Western Conference Finals, they’ll need him to continue being superb. The lack of rest for James shouldn’t be a big concern either as he was able to rest for virtually the entire fourth quarter on Friday. He ended up playing 31 minutes and only a small portion of those minutes were competitive.
1. Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis had a dominant night on the boards. He went off, especially in the third quarter which was a key factor leading to the blowout win for the Lakers. He ended up with 16 points on an efficient 66 percent shooting night from the field. Additionally, he ended up with 14 rebounds in the game.
Davis struggled at times during this series. No matter who the Lakers face in the second round, they will need Davis to be a force as neither the Kings nor the Warriors have an ideal matchup for the LA big man.
The Lakers have turned the season around in dramatic fashion
This Lakers squad went 2-10 to start the year and has now made the second round of the playoffs. Yes, they made upgrades at the trade deadline but they also didn’t put all of their chips on the table in any trade this season. Considering those factors, getting to this point is an amazing achievement.
Sure, the Grizzlies had injuries plaguing them and were missing their big men for the entire series but that shouldn’t diminish the performance from Los Angeles. It might be wise to pump the brakes on the Lakers until they keep pace with the winner of the Kings-Warriors series. Additionally, Darvin Ham’s rotation mistakes will catch up to this team eventually.
But overall, things in LA look pretty bright.