Lakers at Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies look to complete a four-game sweep of Los Angeles when they host the Lakers on Friday. Memphis has won the last five meetings and eight of the past 10 against Los Angeles since becoming the stronger franchise and changing the competitive nature of the series. The Lakers have lost 13 of their last 14 road games and fell 100-94 at the Miami Heat on Wednesday before traveling to Memphis.
Los Angeles continues to play out the string of a miserable season while the Grizzlies have their eyes on catching Golden State in the Western Conference race. The Grizzlies are 4 1/2 games behind the Warriors after posting a 102-100 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday when center Marc Gasol hit the game-winning basket with 0.1 seconds remaining. Memphis possesses a solid 23-7 home mark but has lost its last two games at FedExForum.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), SportSouth (Memphis)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (16-44): Los Angeles lost the first two games of a three-game road trip by a combined seven points and the close losses are a familiar sight to Los Angeles coach Byron Scott. “We gave ourselves an opportunity again, put ourselves in a position but at the end of the day we didn’t take care of business,” Scott told reporters. “The end, as I told the guys, that’s been killing us all season long.” Seven players scored in double digits in the loss to Miami with nobody scoring more than the 14 points put up by power forward Ed Davis and guard Wayne Ellington.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (43-17): Memphis had lost three of four games prior to the dramatic finish against Houston that left a few players breathing sighs of relief. “It was huge for us mentally because we hadn’t been playing to our level of expectations,” point guard Mike Conley told reporters. “We’ve lost some games in the past few weeks that we feel like we shouldn’t have lost.” Gasol scored 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting and is averaging 21.7 points and 8.7 rebounds over the last three games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Memphis’ three wins over Los Angeles this season are by a combined 14 points.
2. Lakers SF Nick Young (knee) is questionable after missing the previous five games.
3. Grizzlies swingman Tony Allen has recorded at least one steal in each of his last 14 games.