The Memphis Grizzlies held serve in game 5, beating the Lakers 116-99 in Memphis to cut the Lakers lead in this series to 3-2. The series now heads back to the West Coast where the Lakers will look to close out the Grizzlies in game 6 Friday night. Tipoff is at 10:30 p.m. EDT at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The Grizzlies faced a must-win situation in game 5 and they lived to survive another day, as they beat the Lakers 116-99 at home to cut the Lakers lead to 3-2 in the best of seven series. But that game was at home and the Grizzlies were expected to win. But now the task gets tougher as they have to head to LA to face the Lakers in the horribly named Crypto.com Arena — no offense to the company its just a bad name for a basketball arena. For starters, no arena should have the word .com in its title. And I know Crypto refers to cryptocurrency, but do you really want your arena to be associated with the word crypt?
Ja Morant and Desmond Bane are the first pair of teammates in Grizzlies history to record 30+ PTS, 10+ REB, and 5+ AST in a Playoff game. pic.twitter.com/HUK7LZFfKy
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) April 27, 2023
Maybe I'll just call it the old Staples Center. Or just avoid saying it altogether. But I digress. The Grizzlies came to play on Wednesday, as the dynamic duo of Ja Morant and Desmond Bane had big nights. Bane led the way with 33 points and 10 rebounds while Morant had 31 points and 10 rebounds. Jaren Jackson also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Grizzlies were 14 of 40 from three point range. “I said it out there, and I’ll say it again. We are going to be back for a Game 7 in front of the best fans in the NBA,” Bane said, reported ESPN. One thing this team has never lacked his confidence, that's for sure.