MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) ― Darrell Arthur scored 20 points and Mike Conley added 19 as the Memphis Grizzlies beat Los Angeles 106-93 Wednesday night, handing the Lakers’ their fourth straight loss and 10th in 12 games.
Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni had talked before the game about how having an All-Star team with players not having learned their pecking order. Yet Los Angeles lost its seventh consecutive road game, and center Dwight Howard missed the second half after aggravating his sore shoulder in the first half.
Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and Tony Allen added 12 points apiece as Memphis improved to 12-0 when scoring at least 100 points. Randolph also grabbed 10 rebounds. The Grizzlies had a 60-34 edge in the paint with Howard out the second half.
Amir Johnson of the Toronto Raptors dunks against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. (AFP-Yonhap News)
Kobe Bryant scored 29 points for the Lakers, Metta World Peace added 15, Pau Gasol 13 and Earl Clark 11.
Los Angeles came in as the NBA’s fifth-best scoring team, averaging 102.6 points. But it was the Grizzlies topping 100 points for the first time since Jan. 11 against the Spurs, and they scored their most points since getting 113 against Sacramento on Jan. 7.
The Grizzlies had a short bench after trading three players to the Cavaliers on Tuesday, only getting Jon Leuer back in a move freeing up Memphis from the luxury tax. But the paperwork hadn’t cleared on the physicals of the trio going to Cleveland in time to have him available against the Lakers.
Then Marc Gasol, Randolph, Hamed Haddadi and Bayless all picked up two fouls each in the first quarter. That forced coach Lionel Hollins to rotate his Grizzlies to keep them fresh, and rookie Tony Wroten, who has gotten most of his playing time in the D-League in Reno this season, had a career-best nine points by halftime.
The Lakers started quickly, scoring the first six points of the game and forced four turnovers. They looked like they had listened to D’Antoni’s plea for better defense.
But they last led 30-28 on a 15-footer by Pau Gasol with 9 minutes left in the second quarter. Conley answered with a 9-foot runner to tie it up, and that started a 22-5 run as the Grizzlies took the lead for good. Conley capped the spurt with a fast-break layup with 4:25 left in the first half for a 50-35 lead.
Both teams shot better than 50 percent in the first half, but the Grizzlies led 59-50 at halftime. They led by as much as 21 in the second half and finished with a 27-3 edge on second-chance points. They outrebounded the Lakers 52-34, including 16 offensive rebounds.
Atlanta 104, Charlotte 92
Miami 123, Toronto 116
Chicago 85, Detroit 82
Denver 105, Houston 95
Brooklyn 91, Minnesota 83
San Antonio 106, New Orleans 102
Utah 92, Washington 88
Phoenix 106, Sacramento 96
Portland 100, Indiana 80
Golden State 104, Oklahoma City 99