Lakers Maul Grizzlies
The Los Angeles Lakers mauled the Memphis Grizzlies 125-85 in Game 6 of their Western Conference First Round matchup, closing out the series 4-2. The No. 7 seed Lakers will now face either the No. 3 seed Sacramento Kings or No. 6 seed Golden State Warriors in the conference semifinals.
The Lakers’ 40-point margin of victory is tied for the fourth highest in a closeout game in NBA playoff history:
54 — Chicago Bulls (April 30, 2015)
50 — Milwaukee Bucks (April 4, 1971)
44 — Los Angeles Lakers (May 22, 1985)
40 — Los Angeles Lakers (April 5, 1969)
40 — San Antonio Spurs (May 4, 1983)
40 — Dallas Mavericks (May 7, 2005)
40 — Los Angeles Lakers (April 28, 2023)
It’s the eighth time the Lakers have won a playoff game by 40 or more points, five more such games than any other franchise. The only other franchises with multiple such wins are the Chicago Bulls (3), Orlando Magic (2), and LA Clippers (2).
This was the worst playoff loss in Grizzlies history:
40 — Los Angeles Lakers (April 28, 2023)
32 — San Antonio Spurs (April 17, 2016)
30 — Golden State Warriors (May 7, 2022)
29 — San Antonio Spurs (April 15, 2017)
27 — Oklahoma City Thunder (May 11, 2011)
The Lakers’ LeBron James scored 22 points on 9-13 shooting from the field, adding six assists and five rebounds. This was the 40th time one of James’ teams has won a postseason series, tying Derek Fisher for the most playoff series wins in NBA history:
40 — Derek Fisher
40 — LeBron James
39 — Robert Horry
37 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
35 — Tim Duncan
D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers in scoring, pouring in a playoff career-high 31 points. Russell shot 12-17 from the field, including 5-9 from 3-point range. Russell became just the third player in franchise history to score at least 30 points with an effective field goal percentage of 85% in a playoff game (a total of four instances):
100.0% — LeBron James (Aug. 24, 2020)
88.9% — Anthony Davis (Aug. 29, 2020)
85.7% — James (Oct. 19, 2020)
85.3% — D’Angelo Russell (April 28, 2023)
Lakers center Anthony Davis recorded a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. Davis also blocked five shots, raising his series total to 26. The last player to block at least 26 shots in a six-game playoff series was Shaquille O’Neal in the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals.
The Grizzlies had a horrific shooting night, making just 29 of their 96 shots from the field (30.2%). That’s the lowest field goal percentage in a playoff game in franchise history:
30.2% — April 28, 2023
32.5% — May 13, 2012
32.6% — April 19, 2016
34.0% — May 21, 2013
34.8% — April 17, 2004
The Grizzlies’ three leading scorers during the regular season — Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. — shot a combined 11-44 from the floor (25.0%), including a 5-19 performance from 3-point range.
Santi Aldama was the lone bright spot for the Grizzlies, scoring a team and playoff career-high 16 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. Aldama also recorded five rebounds.
Kings Force Game 7
Facing elimination, the Sacramento Kings blew out the Golden State Warriors 118-99 to even their Western Conference First Round series at three games apiece. The series will shift back to Sacramento for Game 7 on Sunday, with the winner meeting the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference semifinals.
The Kings’ Malik Monk had a big game coming off the bench, scoring a team-high 28 points in 32 minutes. Monk shot 8-14 from the field — including 3-6 from 3-point range — and made nine of his 10 free throws.
It’s the third time Monk has come off the bench to score at least 20 points in a game this series. Since the NBA began tracking starters in 1970-71, he’s the only Kings bench player to record three such games in a postseason series. In fact, the only other King to produce three such games in his entire playoff career is Bobby Jackson.
Teammate De’Aaron Fox scored 26 points on 10-18 shooting from the floor, adding game highs of 11 assists and three steals (tied). Fox became just the fourth player in NBA history to score at least 24 points in each of the first six games of his postseason career:
Oscar Robertson
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
LeBron James
De’Aaron Fox
Fox is just the third player in NBA history to record at least 20 points and five assists in each of his first six playoff games:
Oscar Robertson
Trae Young
De’Aaron Fox
Kings rookie Keegan Murray had an off night shooting the ball (5-17 from the field), but scored 15 points and snagged a team-high 12 rebounds for his first postseason double-double. The last Kings rookie to record a double-double in a playoff game was Larry Micheaux on April 22, 1984.
The Warriors’ Stephen Curry scored a game-high 29 points in the loss, shooting 9-21 from the floor with five 3-pointers made. Including the regular season, Curry has made multiple 3-pointers in 63 straight games, the longest such streak in NBA history. Outside of Curry, no other player has recorded such a streak longer than 40 games (Paul George).