The Los Angeles Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night in the second game of a back-to-back after winning convincingly in double overtime against the Milwaukee Bucks.

After suffering a knee injury and playing 52 minutes against Milwaukee, Anthony Davis was ruled out of the Lakers lineup as LeBron James returned. James and the Lakers were simply too strong, winning 136-124, even though the Grizzlies have also had their fair share of injuries.

While former Laker Scotty Pippen Jr. also got Memphis off to a strong start with five points, Jaxson Hayes started the game in Davis’ place and scored two dunks in the first two minutes.

James quickly got going, driving for two layups to give the Lakers a 14-9 lead entering the first break.

Early on, the Lakers were dishing out a lot of lob passes while Austin Reaves was dishing out assists to James and Hayes. Then, L.A. took its first double-digit lead thanks to a triple from Spencer Dinwiddie.

The Grizzlies, led by Desmond Bane, came on strong from deep after James and Reaves went to the bench, closing the first quarter with a 37-36 deficit.

Hachimura started the second quarter with seven points, including a dunk and a corner triple, after Russell made another three to start the quarter. Reaves and Hachimura appeared like they did during Memphis’ playoff series the previous year, and they were both giving Los Angeles easy σffensive opportunities. The Lakers led 69-61 going into the locker room after a solid finish to the half.

Hachimura started the second half where he left off, making back-to-back 3-pointers. The Lakers were s𝔲ddenly up 14 points as Russell joined in on the action. Russell hit another one, and Taurean Prince followed suit, as they kept laying it on thick.

James had a severe fall near the conclusion of the third quarter, but he continued to play and seemed to be fine. The King then finished with a triple-double as he stole the ball, made a layup, and helped Dinwiddie score a basket. As they accumulated a 27-point advantage, it appeared as though the Lakers could do no wrong.

But not quite as quickly as James slid to the bench and the Lakers let up on the pace. With a huge run to end the third quarter, the Grizzlies narrowed their deficit to 102-92.

Naturally, Hachimura opened the fourth quarter with a three and a block, giving the Lakers the momentum they needed to reclaim.

The Grizzlies, led by Jake LaRavia, did not give up easily and maintained a disadvantage of almost ten points. Eventually, though, James had had enough and entered attαck mode one last time to permanently close the game.