LeBron James, Anthony Davis help Lakers survive depleted Grizzlies

James has 37 points, including six in the final minute, and Davis has 36 points and 14 rebounds as the Lakers stave off Memphis, 123-120, and gain ground in their attempt to avoid the 9-10 play-in game.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis help Lakers survive depleted Grizzlies

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The standings don’t reward quality of performances. Only wins and losses.

And at this point in the season, the Lakers need any wins they can get to avoid being locked into the 10th seed in the Western Conference – a spot that has never advanced any teams from the play-in tournament to the first round of the playoffs.

Even ugly wins such as the Lakers’ 123-120 road victory on Friday night over the decimated Memphis Grizzlies, who had 13 players sidelined.

“There were some things we definitely got to clean up,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “But we needed to win this game and we won it.”

Scroll through the box score and the Lakers’ performance looks more impressive than it is.

LeBron James (37 points, nine rebounds, five assists in 41 minutes) and Anthony Davis (36 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots in 43 minutes) led the Lakers the best they could.

Their offense was humming all night, with the Lakers shooting 51.9% (42 for 81) from the field. Rui Hachimura added 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Austin Reaves had 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting while battling through foul trouble.

But the Lakers practically took their feet off the pedal after taking a 34-26 lead at the end of the first quarter and a game-best 13-point lead (50-37) midway through the second.

“It didn’t catch us off guard because we already knew who was not playing for them,” James said. “But at the end of the day, they’re NBA players and we gotta approach it that way.”

Their turnovers (19 giveaways for 26 Grizzlies’ points) and early defensive rebounding struggles, which led to the Grizzlies scoring 11 second-chance points in the first, helped the Grizzlies find their offensive rhythm.

“We were loose [Friday],” Hachimura said. “They were playing harder, so we were struggling. Turnovers … mess up our rhythm too.”

And once the short-handed hosts found that rhythm, it was challenging for the Lakers to get them out of it, especially with how lackadaisical they were defensively for most of the night.

After cutting their deficit to 68-64 before halftime, the Grizzlies led by as many as nine in the third (91-82) before the Lakers ramped up their defensive intensity, helping them take a narrow 99-98 lead heading into the fourth.

“In order to win games in the playoffs, you have to defend,” Davis said. “We do got to pick it up, especially defensive rebounding. Teams have been crashing the glass lately, just trying to get second-chance opportunities. We’ve got to do a better job on that end. It’s that time where you’ve got to lock in defensively. The miscommunications, the mishaps have to be very limited if you want to win.”

The Lakers led 115-114 with 2½ minutes left, when Hachimura grabbed a pair of James’ missed 3-point attempts before getting fouled on a putback dunk. He made both free throws for a 117-114 lead.

GG Jackson, who led the Grizzlies with a team-high 31 points, dunked through the Lakers’ defense on Memphis’ next possession to cut the margin back to one with less than two minutes left.

Davis, returning from a left eye injury that kept him out of the Lakers’ loss to Golden State on Tuesday, missed a pair of free throws after getting fouled while going for a defensive rebound with 1:23 remaining.

Jake LaRavia, who added 28 points and six assists for Memphis, made a pair of free throws to give the Grizzlies a 118-117 lead with just over a minute left. James made a layup to put the Lakers back up by one with 44 seconds left.

After forcing an empty Grizzlies possession, James made a pair of free throws to put the Lakers ahead 121-118 with 15.5 seconds left.

James threw down an emphatic dunk with 5.2 seconds left after another empty Grizzlies possession to seal the victory for the Lakers.

The Lakers moved to 46-35 with the victory, keeping alive their hopes of moving up the Western Conference standings and nudging ahead of both Golden State (45-36), which lost at home to New Orleans, and Sacramento (45-36), which lost to the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers are now in the eighth position with one game left in the regular season – Sunday in New Orleans.

“We played probably one of the worst games this season,” Hachimura said. “And it never can happen like this. I know it’s the end of the season already, but we’re trying to build something for the playoffs. We can’t be messing around with a team like this.

“We didn’t do a good job, I feel like. But [a] wins a win. We got this one and … we gotta prepare for the next one.”

Ham said he wasn’t worried about how much his two leading scorers played because “We all understand what’s at stake.”

“In the moment, you’re not worried about that,” Ham said. “You’re worried about securing the victory you came to get. … Everyone knows what time it is. It’s that time of the year. Whatever we need, and however long we need to push guys, we’ve got to have it, and they understand that.”

The Lakers emerged from the play-in last season before dispatching the second-seeded Grizzlies and Warriors to reach the Western Conference finals, where they were swept by top-seeded Denver. The Lakers lose tiebreakers scenarios to both Golden State and Sacramento, so finishing a game ahead of those teams with a win on Sunday would secure the No. 8 seed and a spot in the 7-8 play-in game. A loss would likely send them plummeting back to 10th place.

“Every game matters. Every seed matters,” James said. “Wherever you fall, you can’t play in the past. I can’t say I would much rather be where we are today than the one seed. That would be a lie. Seeds matter, and wherever you fall, you take that challenge.”

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