The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 136-124 on Wednesday night. Rui Hachimura scored 32 points and LeBron James had a triple-double with 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists. The Lakers built a big lead in the third quarter and never looked back.

The Lakers won their fifth straight game and are now only two and a half games behind idle Dallas for sixth place in the Western Conference. If they stay there, they won’t have to play a play-in game. On Tuesday night, they beat Milwaukee 128–124 in double overtime without James.

On the previous game, against Milwaukee, Anthony Davis played 52 minutes and scored 34 points and grabbed 23 boards. He didn’t play against Memphis. He hurt his left knee too much late in the game against the Bucks.

Marcus Smart scored 23 points for Los Angeles, and Taurean Prince scored 15.

Mesa’s Desmond Bane had 26 points and 16 assists. In the fourth quarter, Jake LaRavia scored 14 of his 25 points and Jaren Jackson scored 17. They’ve lost six out of seven.

Even though they played a long game the night before, the Lakers’ shooting seemed fine in the first half, and they led 69–61 at the break.

Los Angeles went ahead by 27 points after making eight of its first ten long-range shots in the third. With a 21-4 run at the end of the third, Memphis pulled ahead 102-92 going into the fourth.

For most of the fourth, the Lakers would keep their double-digit lead.

The Grizzlies were limping to the finish line after an injury-filled season. Brandon Clarke’s return gave them a morale boost. Since March 5, 2023, when he hurt his left Achilles, the 6-foot-8 forward had not played. In almost 21 minutes, he scored six points.