Memphis Grizzlies vs Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Talking points as Memphis stun LeBron James and Co.

The Memphis Grizzlies emerged with a victory in their Western Conference road game against the Los Angeles Lakers 107-99 in a very close encounter. It was a close call and any one of the teams could have gotten a victory.

With the victory over the Lakers, the Grizzlies are now 10th in the Western Conference with a record of 17-16, while the Lakers are at 4th with a record of 19-14.

LeBron James failed to come up with big numbers for the Los Angeles Lakers in what was a very tight defensive performance from the Grizzlies as they choked the pacey Lakers and clogged them.

The Grizzlies badly needed this victory as they were on a 5-game losing streak and hopefully for them this is a sign of good and positive things to come. The Lakers also needed this victory but that couldn’t happen in this game.

With all that said, let’s look at the top 3 takeaways:

#3 Jaren Jackson Jr. a positive ray of hope

The Grizzlies have been struggling a lot recently. And things don’t seem to be going right for them. Amidst all this, they seem to have found their next generation star, around whom they could build their entire team and that is Jaren Jackson Jr.

He has been playing really well and has been a top 5 rookie this season. Jackson doesn’t just bring offense but he is also very athletic and already an elite defender. He can shoot from the 3-point line as well and finishes with authority inside the paint.

So, overall, there aren’t many glaring weaknesses inside his game. He just needs to keep nurturing and polishing himself to become the star the Grizzlies hope he is.

Jackson has been averaging 13.2 ppg, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks on 35% shooting from the 3-point line.