LeBron James’ triple-double leads Lakers past Grizzlies

LeBron James scored 35 points in his third consecutive triple-double as the Los Angeles Lakers remained perfect at home with a 128-123 victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.

James added 14 assists with 12 rebounds in his fourth triple-double of the season. Los Angeles rookie Dalton Knecht added a career-best 19 points while going 5-for-5 from 3-point range.

The Lakers improved to 6-0 at home, matching the NBA-best mark also held by the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.

Los Angeles’ Anthony Davis scored 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Rui Hachimura had 19 points and Austin Reaves scored 18 for the Lakers, including a decisive 3-pointer with 1:09 remaining for a 124-117 lead.

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 29 points and Scotty Pippen Jr., Santi Aldama and Marcus Smart each added 15 points as the Grizzlies saw their season-best three-game winning streak come to an end.

Memphis played without Ja Morant (hip) for the third consecutive game and also was without Brandon Clarke (toe) and Desmond Bane (oblique).

Luke Kennard and Zach Edey each added 12 points as the Grizzlies finished with seven players in double figures scoring for the fourth consecutive game.

After trailing by 15 points in the first half, the Grizzlies led by as many as nine points multiple times in the third quarter before entering the fourth with a 96-91 advantage.

The Lakers opened the final quarter on a 10-2 run to go up 101-98 with 9:37 remaining on a layup by James. The teams traded the lead from there until a pair of Davis 3-pointers 62 seconds apart as Los Angeles went up 116-110 with 3:49 remaining.

The Lakers led by as many as 13 points in the first quarter and were up 60-48 with less than four minutes remaining in the second quarter before the Grizzlies closed on a 16-5 run to pull within 65-64 at halftime.

Memphis shot 70 percent from the floor (14 of 20) in the second quarter after Los Angeles shot 60.9 percent (14 of 23) in the first quarter. James led all scorers in the first half with 20 points.

Overall on the night, Los Angeles outshot Memphis 50.6 percent to 47.2 percent from the floor.

–Field Level Media