Lakers at Grizzlies
Kobe Bryant thrilled the crowd in his final Christmas Day game, but the Los Angeles Lakers still came up short. The Lakers will try to clip their latest slide at two contests when they open up a three-game road trip by visiting the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
Bryant, who scored 12 points in 26 minutes against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, will close out the trip by making his final visit to Boston and plays for the final time in the city that traded him away on draft night Monday in Charlotte. The future Hall of Famer spent the fourth quarter on the bench on Christmas as the reserves turned a 28-point deficit into a close finish before dropping a 94-84 decision that served as Los Angeles’ 10th loss in the last 12 games. The Grizzlies are looking to bust out of their own two-game slump after failing to reach 100 points for the fifth time in six games on Saturday. Memphis is among the lowest scoring teams in the league despite a change to a smaller starting lineup and went 1-2 on its just-completed road trip – with the lone win coming over lowly Philadelphia.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), FSN Southeast (Memphis)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (5-25): Los Angeles coach Byron Scott has fielded many questions about his starting lineup choices and finally seemed to find a unit that worked well together when a group of mostly reserves tightened things on Friday. “I thought our spacing was much better,” Scott told reporters. “(Marcelo Huertas) was able to make some plays. Our defense was much better, and then once we got our defense going we were able to get up and down the floor a little bit more.” Rookie D’Angelo Russell is still coming off the bench and went for 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting Friday.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (16-16): Memphis coach Dave Joerger continues to bring power forward Zach Randolph off the bench but is increasing his minutes. Randolph had his most productive game since joining the reserves with 18 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes at Charlotte on Saturday and has scored in double figures in three straight games. The Michigan State product was on the floor for the entire fourth quarter on Saturday and scored seven of his team’s 18 points in the frame.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lakers F Nick Young is 3-of-21 from 3-point range in his last four games.
2. Grizzlies F Matt Barnes totaled nine points on 4-of-15 shooting in the last two games.
3. Memphis has taken six straight in the series by an average of 6.3 points.