Luka Doncic, LeBron James lead Lakers past Grizzlies to kick off 2026
LOS ANGELES — Oftentimes, when his team is going through a rough patch in the season, Lakers coach JJ Redick references the popular line from Jay-Z’s “A Week Ago” when Jay-Z rapped, “It was all good just a week ago.”
But that sentiment hadn’t been uttered by Redick recently going into Friday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Because a week ago, the Lakers were coming off their season-worst three-game losing streak. And even though they were coming off back-to-back wins a week before that, those victories came after they dropped three of their previous five games.
But Redick made it clear that this stretch of struggles didn’t feel different than others. And that there was still a belief and care within the locker room, which the Lakers showed in their 128-121 victory over the Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena, kicking off a new year and a two-game set against Memphis.
Because each time the Grizzlies pushed the Lakers, they pushed back, led by high-scoring performances from Luka Doncic and LeBron James, with the duo dominating the fourth quarter.
“We have a lot of people that close the game, especially [me],” Doncic said. “LeBron, he took over. [Jarred Vanderbilt] hit a big shot. Jake [LaRavia] hit a big shot. Jaxson [Hayes] had a big dunk. It’s just everybody.”
Doncic had 34 points (going 17 for 20 at the free-throw line), eight assists and six rebounds, while James recorded 31 points (12-of-18 shooting), nine rebounds and six assists.
“It was just playing and playing in rhythm,” James said. “We’re trying to find ways that we can be productive. Obviously, Luka did a great job of getting to the free-throw line. Also mixing in a couple middies. He made a step-back 3, a big-time shot there. Myself, just trying to sprinkle in a little bit here, a little bit there. Just trying to be consistent and be super efficient with my play. So we worked well off each other and we led the group.”
Jake LaRavia added 21 points, nine rebounds and two assists – his first 20-point game since Nov. 2. He scored 18 points in the first half and 11 in the opening quarter.
“It started with Jake, he was locked in from the beginning,” James said. “Marcus [Smart] on both ends of the floor, obviously taking the challenge of guarding Ja [Morant]. Those two guys set the tone for us. We needed it.”
The Lakers (21-11) maintained a perfect 11-0 record in games that featured clutch minutes – when the score is within five points in the final five minutes – after going on a 12-2 run to take a 121-112 lead when James made a layup with 1:57 left.
They’re the only team in the league that hasn’t lost a game featuring clutch minutes.
Jaren Jackson Jr., who battled foul trouble throughout the game, had 25 points to lead the Grizzlies, who will face the Lakers again on Sunday night. Former Laker Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 20 points (4 for 6 from 3-point range) and five rebounds off the bench. Morant had 16 points and 11 assists coming off his 40-point game in an overtime loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday.
The Grizzlies were missing six players, including center Zach Edey.
Smart added 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, while Hayes scored 12.
“We say it all the time: [energy and effort is] very helpful and it’s very contagious,” Smart said. “It’s contagious whether it’s negative or positive. We’ve had games where the urgency wasn’t there, and that trickled down the line. And you see games like [Friday] where it trickles up the line. Just understanding that for us we have to come out and we have to be positive and we have to be contagious so that energy can flow.”
Vanderbilt (five points) made a corner 3-pointer to put the Lakers ahead 116-110 with 4:13 remaining. He’s made a 3-pointer in eight consecutive games, which is the longest streak of his NBA career, and he is 11 for 21 from behind the arc since reentering the rotation in the Dec. 14 road win against the Phoenix Suns after opening the season just 4 for 15 from 3-point range.
“Obviously, we need his athleticism,” James said. “We need the way he can guard multiple positions. So it’s very key that he’s back in the lineup and we love that. But we also need him to knock down a corner shot occasionally when teams are not going to guard him. They kind of disrespect him over there – not even contesting his shots – and he’s put a lot of work in it every day at practice, just shooting that same shot.”
James added: “He’s not hesitating. He’s just shooting it. No matter if he misses one or misses two in a row, he’s just shooting the next and and that was a big-time 3.”
The Lakers had a 39-31 lead going into the second quarter for their second advantage after the opening quarter in the last month.
They also held a 66-60 lead going into halftime despite squandering a 55-40 lead when the Grizzlies scored 18 unanswered points.
Doncic, James and LaRavia each scored in the final 2½ minutes of the second quarter to help the Lakers regain the lead before halftime.
JJ on LeBron:
"He was phenomenal. There was a few stretches there where they made runs and the response from him…it's felt like every time we need a bucket, he just kind of willed. He was phenomenal tonight." pic.twitter.com/yUKewGGqqS
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 3, 2026
LBJ (31 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) discusses having a couple days off after 41st birthday, Marcus and Jake's contributions, and the diversification of his scoring.
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: https://t.co/k8Sa1tLkWs pic.twitter.com/fz8lJsi48j— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 3, 2026
"They play so fast. We had to play hard, play physical, rebound, play together as a team defensively and offensively and we did that down the stretch."
Jake LaRavia (21 points on 8/12 FG, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) speaks with @LakersReporter following the #Lakers win over Memphis! pic.twitter.com/DzYxKy5p15
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 3, 2026