Memphis: The road troubles for the Los Angeles Lakers continued as they were beaten 106-98 by the Grizzlies in Memphis yesterday.
The Lakers dropped to 0-4 on the road and 6-7 on the season as the Grizzlies (9-2) continued their early season impressive form.
The Grizzlies, who are the top team in the Western Conference, were ruthless early and led 34-18 at the end of the first quarter then refused to be run down, producing a team effort where all five starters scored double figure points.
Rudy Gay top-scored for Memphis with 21 points while Zach Randolph added 17 and 12 rebounds for his 11th successive double-double while Mike Conley (19 points), Marc Gasol (14) and Tony Allen (12) also contributed to the victory.
Kobe Bryant scored a game high 30 points and Metta World Peace and Antawn Jamison added 16 each for the Lakers, who battled to be as close as six behind in the final quarter but could not complete the fightback.
“They got a lot of points in the paint and we didn’t battle hard enough in stretches,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said.
D’Antoni left Pau Gasol on the bench for the final quarter, leaving the Spaniard with just six points for the Lakers. REUTERS
