LOS ANGELES — LeBron James didn’t sugarcoat his increasingly sour feelings after the Los Angeles Lakers spiraled to their 10th loss in 13 games Friday night, falling 127-113 to the Memphis Grizzlies.
“We just suck right now,” a visibly perturbed James said after he scored 32 points in the Lakers’ fourth consecutive loss.
Anthony Davis had 31 points in Los Angeles’ latest discouraging defeat since winning the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. The Lakers — who gave up a season-high 23 3-pointers to a Memphis team that’s last in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage — have beaten only San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Charlotte since raising the trophy in Las Vegas four weeks ago.
“That was just two games, though,” James said. “That was a small sample. Everybody is getting so cracked up about Vegas, keep bringing up Vegas. It was two games. We took care of that business … but that was really just two games.”
Austin Reaves had 19 points and a career-high 12 assists, but the Lakers dropped to 0-2 to begin a 12-game stretch with just one game outside of Los Angeles. The Lakers acknowledge they’re feeling the strain of their losing streak.
Jaren Jackson Jr. hit five 3-pointers and scored 31 points and Marcus Smart added 29 points with a season-high eight 3-pointers for the Grizzlies, who earned just their second win in six games.
Desmond Bane had 24 points and 13 assists while Ja Morant scored 21 points for Memphis, whose starting lineup combined for 21 of those 3-pointers. Smart had missed 16 consecutive 3-point attempts over the past five games in a low-percentage shooting season before he hit the first of his 8 3-pointers against the Lakers.
Ziaire Williams added 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter while the Grizzlies pulled away from the Lakers with a game-ending, 24-10 run.
“We got some pretty good looks,” James said. “They turned us over. I had two critical turnovers, missed four free throws. But we had our chances.”
