A hot start from the Memphis Grizzlies led to a 128-119 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night in Kobe Bryant’s last game at FedExForum.
Memphis never lost the lead during the contest, which helped the Grizzlies improve to 33-23 on their regular season slate, while the Lakers fell to 11-48 on the season. The Grizzlies set a season-high in scoring tonight.
Matt Barnes had a big night from the field, leading the Grizzlies with a season-high 25 points, 18 of which came in the first half, and pulling down eight rebounds. Mike Conley contributed 24 points and dished out six assists.
P.J. Hairston finished the game with 17 points, while Zach Randolph and JaMychal Green each grabbed nine rebounds and notched 14 points and 12 points, respectively. From the bench, Brandan Wright tallied a season-high 15 points.
On the opponents side, Jordan Clarkson led all scorers with 28 points to go with six rebounds and three assists. D’Angelo Russell and Lou Williams each scored 22 points, while Julius Randle and Brandon Bass each posted 11 points. Randle grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, registering his 24th career double-double.
Kobe Bryant finished his final game in Memphis with 13 points to go with two assists in 29 minutes of play. Bryant’s highest-scoring performance at FedExForum came on March 22, 2007 when he notched 60 points, which stands as the single-game record for a Grizzlies opponent.
In the first half of the game, the Grizzlies remained sharp from the start. Memphis shot 25-of-43 (.581) from the field, while holding Los Angeles to just 19-of-42 (.452). The Grizzlies held a nine point, 67-58, lead into halftime.
Memphis held its largest lead of the game, 19 points, during the final frame, although the Lakers outscored the Grizzlies, 35-31 during that quarter. Tonight’s victory marks Memphis’ eighth straight win over Los Angeles, extending a franchise-record streak.
The Grizzlies hit the road for a three-game road trip starting on Friday, Feb. 26 against the Los Angeles Lakers at STAPLES center. Tip-off is set for 7 pm CT and fans can tune into ESPN or 92.9 FM ESPN to catch the game.
Catch the action as your Grizzlies travel to Los Angeles to face the Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Friday, Feb. 26 at 9:30PM. Find your channel.
The Grizzlies will return to FedExForum on Wednesday, March 2 to tip-off against the Sacramento Kings.
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— Coach Dave Joerger
— Brandan Wright</strong
On importance of getting must-win games in the final stretch of the season You have to win those games and if we don’t win those games, it’s going to hurt us in the end. We’re not looking that far ahead. We’re taking it one game at a time. We know we have a pretty tough back-to-back coming up and then we’ll take it from there. — Brandan Wright On first game at FedExForum It felt great. The atmosphere is amazing, my teammates are amazing and they’ve helped me out so much. I’m just trying to get adjusted and trying to figure out my teammates and trying to have fun. — Lance Stephenson On what it means to be on the court with Kobe Bryant during his final season Kobe is unstoppable. He has so many moves, even at this age. He still has the fadeaway and he just has so many go-to moves. Playing against him and learning from him when I was younger, some of my moves are from him and I just try to put in my own style. Kobe is amazing and it’s great watching him. — Lance Stephenson Player Notes In his final appearance at FedExForum, Kobe Bryant scored 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting (35.7 percent)… Bryant has scored the most points against the Grizzlies franchise all-time with 1,616 points, more than 200 points above second place Dirk Nowitzki (1,374)… His 60-point performance on March 22, 2007 still stands as the single-game record by a Grizzlies opponent as well as a building record for any NBA player at FedExForum. With his second rebound, Zach Randolph passed fellow Michigan State power forward Johnny Green (9,083) for 48th in NBA history for career rebounds… He sits 70 rebounds shy of Artis Gilmore (9,161 career rebounds) for 47th on the list… The only other player from Michigan State remaining above Z-Bo for total NBA career rebounds is Kevin Willis (11,901). Vince Carter knocked down a three pointer late in the game and in doing so moved into 24th in NBA history for career points scored, passing Charles Barkley (23,757) Matt Barnes (25 points) and Brandan Wright (15 points) each set season highs… Barnes was 9-of-14 from the floor (64.3 percent), and knocked down five of his attempts from long range… Barnes paced the Grizzlies with 18 of his points coming in the first half, and he added eight rebounds. P.J. Hairston tied a career-high with four three pointers… He finished with 17 points and added a pair of rebounds and assists. Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting (55.6 percent), and he set a career-high with six three pointers… Clarkson has shot 22-of-41 (53.7 percent) from beyond the arc in February… He also extended his career-long streak of consecutive games in double figures to 27. Rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell set a career high with eight assists… He added 19 points and four rebounds. Power forward Julius Randle picked up his 24th career double-double… Randle is first among second-year players in double-doubles with second-place Nerlens Noel having recorded 11… He finished with 11 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.
— Brandan Wright
— Lance Stephenson
— Lance Stephenson
