Luka Doncic and LeBron James help Lakers beat Grizzlies again

They met two days prior to Sunday night’s encounter at Crypto.com Arena, a two-game set between the Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies reminiscent of a playoff series.

The Lakers won the first game Friday night here and knew the Grizzlies were going to bring more intensity and a stronger effort even with star guard Ja Morant (right calf contusion) not playing.

And that was the case, the Lakers falling behind by 16 points in the second quarter, the Grizzlies ramping it up in a big way. But with Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Jake LaRavia leading the way, the Lakers pulled out a 120-114 win and improved to 12-0 in clutch games.

“They played exceptional basketball in the first half when we knew we were going to get their best shot, especially after the playoff-type of format,” said LeBron James, who had 26 points, 10 assists to go along with seven rebounds. “The team always make the adjustments coming to the next game, better prepared. So, I think it’s just in the second half, we started to crack the code a little bit. Was able to get the lead down in the third. They kind of broke away a little bit again, but we just kept at it out there and was able to have a great fourth quarter.”

Doncic almost had a triple-double with 36 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. LaRavia, starting in the absence of Rui Hachimura, had 26 points, five rebounds and four assists. It was the second straight time LaRavia, who came in averaging 9.1 points, scored 20-plus. HIs defense also was on point again, another sign of LaRavia’s development and a role he has been able to fill for the Lakers.

“I just feel like I’m a player where when you tell me the things that you want me to do I’m going to just go out there and do them,” said LaRavia, who was nine-for-16 from the field and four-for-10 from three-point range. “I’ve had plenty of conversations with (Lakers coach) JJ (Redick), with (Lakers assistant) coach Beau (Levesque) and they tell me what they want me to do out there and I kind of just go out there and I try my best to do that every game. Shots aren’t going to fall every game, but I can control the effort that I bring to a game, crashing every time. I know they talk about offensive crash-rate. I’m just trying to do that every night and just bringing energy to this team.”

Back-and-forth the game went in the fourth quarter,, with the Lakers and Grizzlies taking turns delivering in tense moments. The Lakers finally took the lead for good at 100-99 on a basket by Doncic.

Then James scored on a three-point play and made one of two free throws for a 104-99 lead with 3 minutes 49 seconds left.

The Lakers (22-11) had an answer for every Grizzlies counter, the final stamp on the game being Doncic’s back-to-back three-pointers for a nine-point lead with 2:01 left.

So, the Lakers passed the test the NBA put in front of them by scheduling a game against the Grizzlies here Friday night and then at home again on Sunday night.

“I like it,” Redick said. “I do think it does replicate [the playoffs] in some ways. A playoff series, particularly when it’s not a home-and-away situation, but more of you’re playing a two-game series on somebody’s home court for the day in between. Had a few of these last year. So, I like this for our team and it’s a good growth opportunity. Coming off a win, knowing that there’s a lot of stuff that we can be better at and where can we make improvements. That’s the big challenge to me.”

For Redick, that meant what it always does for the Lakers — improving on defense.

They held the Grizzlies to 42% shooting and 24.4% from three-point range.

The Lakers also wanted to jump-start center Deandre Ayton from a five-game slumber.

Ayton had just four points on two-for-four shooting against the Grizzlies on Friday night and hadn’t scored more than 12 points in that span.

So, the Lakers went to Ayton at the outset, trying to ignite his game. It worked to a degree, Ayton scoring 15 points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking three shots.

“I trust my teammates so well and they are generational players so I really try not to clog their brain up with just me or try to focus on me,” said Ayton, who was six-for-eight from the field. “It’s more like me wanting to crash the boards early and get going. But I just appreciate them finding me in spots where I got the advantage and that’s all I can really worry about. It’s really me not getting frustrated. It’s more like this where I dominate. I don’t really care about a play for me or touches. It’s the rhythm of the basketball game that keeps me in the flow and keeps me going.”