The Lakers failed to find a spark in the 116-99 loss in Game 5 against the Grizzlies. LeBron James had a performance to forget, struggling on offense throughout the night.
James scored 15 points in Game 5, his lowest tally of the series. He shot an abysmal 5-for-17 from the field and went an equally disappointing 1-for-9 from three-point range. He also turned the ball over five times.
James was critical of himself during his postgame interview, and he didn’t mince words when evaluating his play on Wednesday night.
“It’s not about what AD and myself are doing. It’s about how we can win basketball games. Tonight, I was s---, and I’ll be better in Game 6,” said LeBron while speaking to reporters postgame.
“Tonight, I was sh—. And I’ll be better in Game 6.” LeBron James expresses the disappointment felt in his performance tonight. pic.twitter.com/5OlfN6gqbO
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 27, 2023
While James failed to find his touch around the rim, Anthony Davis turned in one of his best games of the playoffs, providing the Lakers with 31 points and 19 rebounds.
Los Angeles will return home for Game 6, where it’ll look to close out the series an advance to the conference semifinals for the first time since its title run in 2020. Failing to win on Friday would force the team to return to Memphis for Game 7.
James’s 15 points were his fewest in a playoff game since 2020, and he’s only been held below that scoring tally on seven occasions in his entire playoff career (271 games). He’ll look for a bounce-back game to lift the Lakers to the second round.
