Lakers fall to Grizzlies despite LeBron James triple double for second straight loss

Despite a historic LeBron James night, in which he finished with a triple-double, it seems that the Los Angeles Lakers struggles will continue.

The Lakers fell to the Memphis Grizzlies 110-105 on Monday night, marking their second consecutive loss since the All-Star break.

Both teams bounced back in the first quarter, until an 11-4 run extending from the end of the first quarter to second gave the Grizzlies a slight lead. From there, they never looked back, leading the rest of the way en route to the five-point victory.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "" We have not done enough games when we needed it, "said Luke Walton, Lakers coach, & nbsp;via Spectrum SportsNet.& nbsp; "We started making the stops we needed, we covered ourselves, we did that kind of thing, then offensively, we did not play the games we had to win on the road." "data-reactid =" 21 ">" We did not make enough games when we needed them, "said Lakers coach Luke Walton, via Spectrum SportsNet. "We started getting the stops we needed, we were protecting each other, we were doing these things, and offensively we were not doing the games we needed to win on the road."

Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 30 points and five assists, shooting 10 of 17 on the field. Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Avery Bradley added 15 points.

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Frustrations accentuate late

The Lakers certainly had their chance Monday night.

At the end of a minute, James reduced the lead of the Grizzlies to two points after a setback. He had the opportunity to bring him back to a goal, but he missed the free throw and the Grizzlies grabbed the rebound.

They then jumped right into a full-court press and seemed to win an eight-second break, which would have allowed them to recover the ball.

Even though the Grizzlies stayed in the backcourt for nearly 10 seconds, they were never called.

From there, the Grizzlies made five shots at the last minute to restrain the Lakers.

<p class = "canvas-atom-text-canvas Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "" When calling eight seconds, (the officials) said they thought they had passed the ball beyond half the field, "said James,via Spectrum SportsNet.& nbsp; "What they thought, you know. Either you know for sure, or you do not. It was really 15, when I looked at the shot clock, it was 15 and they did not pass the ball past the field. But, I mean, it happens. "" Data-reactid = "42"> "At the eight-second call, (the officials) said that they thought they had gotten the ball in front of half of the field," James said. via Spectrum SportsNet. "What they thought, you know. Either you know for sure, or you do not. It was really 15, when I looked at the shot clock, it was 15 and they did not pass the ball past the field. But, I mean, it happens.

Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 32 points, shooting 12 of 18 of the field. James finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Kyle Kuzma added 22 points and Reggie Bullock finished with 14. The Lakers scored seven points off the bench.

"We need more," Walton said of bench production. "I started limiting the minutes of the bench guys, so they do not have the same number of chances, but we still … need more of this group that has been good for us."

The Lakers are now 29-31 with just 21 games to play and sit 11th in the Western Conference standings – three places in a playoff spot. James may miss his first post-season since 2005.

"At this point, if you still allow distractions to affect your playing, then it's a bad franchise and you should just come in and say," Listen, I can not do that. "James Spectrum SportsNet said after the match: "Seriously, if you're distracted by the reviews of the series, everything we've talked about this year, come do your job, do your work at a high level.

"It's not a distraction. That's what you want. That's what you want in every game, you want to feel like you're fighting for something. "

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