Tonight, the real Los Angeles Lakers showed up for the first time since last spring, and it was a refreshing sight for their fans.
Playing at home against the very short-handed Memphis Grizzlies, they took care of business the way a championship contender is supposed to — by blowing out the Grizzlies, 134-107.
For the first time this season, Los Angeles had a strong start, and it never let up. It led 74-51 at halftime, and although Memphis came to within 16, 88-72, midway through the third quarter, the Purple and Gold scored 15 unanswered points right afterward to eliminate any chance of a collapse.
This was a dominant performance in just about every aspect for the Lakers. They shot 58% from the field while holding Memphis to just 36.8% shooting, and they tied a franchise record with 22 made 3-point pointers in 35 attempts. They also outrebounded their opponent, 54-35, in a reversal of an early-season trend.
The Lakers are 6-5 on the season and 2-0 in group play as far as the in-season tournament is concerned. This lopsided win will help them in their attempts to win their group and advance to the knockout round, as the margin of victory in group games is one of the tiebreakers in case more than one team has the same record in group play.