The Los Angeles Lakers seemed to be in control, up 13 times late in the third quarter, before Ja Morante He almost single-handedly beat them in the Memphis Grizzlies’ 104-99 home win on Wednesday.

Morant scored 16 of 41 points from the 3 minute 38 second mark in the third through the last bell, hitting a 37-19 push from Memphis to finish things off.

“When you hit the ball like he did tonight from the ocean, with his speed and athletic performance, it’s going to be hard to fit a guy like that because he’s doing all three of the scoring,” he said. LeBron James, who had 37 points, including eight three-pointers to equal his career high, was for nothing. “You can’t – there is nothing you can do. He has you under his supervision [and call]. “

This is Morant’s second 40-point lead against the Lakers this season in the two times he has played.

Shoot 13-for-27 from the field on Wednesday, including 6-for-7 from 3-point range, and was 9-for-12 from the free throw line, adding 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. .

Despite his final boom, he was impressive earlier in the game when he scored 16 straight points for the Grizzlies who acted as a bridge in the late second and early third quarters.

“We started getting dirty, man, and he went to the free-throw line and started seeing the ball go in, and he got his rhythm that way,” the Lakers goalkeeper monk owner He said. “And when a man walks like this, there’s not much you can do.”

The return of the Memphis thwarted what could have been a 2-0 wild ride to bring the Lakers back to 0.500 after a win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday. Instead, Los Angeles (17-19) is looking for eighth place in the Western Conference standings as the season approaches the halfway mark, with Memphis (22-14) strengthening its hold on the No. 4 seed.

“Obviously Ja, what an incredible night he’s been, the tune he’s been setting throughout the game,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “When it got going, it was kind of like fueling the others, and we kind of broke up there in that third quarter.”

Morant finished with six turnovers, including three in the fourth quarter, but it was the Lakers who were left grieving over their 18 turnovers, which led to 21 points for the Grizzlies.

James had five turnovers, spoiling his sixth straight 30-point effort, and Russell Westbrook He also scored five turnovers, blunting the impact of his third straight hat-trick (16 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds).

“We understand we have a lot of strikers, but the careless inversions where you literally turn the ball around, there’s no pressure or reason for that, those are the ones that get us in trouble,” James said.

James’ most obvious foul that night came with 6.7 seconds left, and the Lakers were three seconds behind, when he threw the ball wide to the Grizzlies, denying Los Angeles the opportunity to attempt an even shot.

“The one thing that I think has hurt us more than ever is the transformations and other gameplay, where [L.A. failed to execute] “Easy play to make another pass to the open man,” Lakers coach David Wiesdal said when Frank Vogel was on league health and safety protocols.

Westbrook, whose turnovers have been a common theme in the Lakers’ losses this season, has shifted the blame elsewhere. He said the difference between Los Angeles’ closing in on the Rockets in the final quarter on Tuesday and the failure to secure a win over the Grizzlies the following night was a result of the knockout selection.

The Lakers 12 for 21 off the field were fourth in Houston, scoring 1 for 5 of 3. They shot a 7 for 20 in the final frame in Memphis, including a 2 for 10 of 3 – where James counted a 2 for 6 tally, While the rest of the team scored 0 for 4, including a waste from Westbrook.

“You can watch the story on Monday and see where our shots came from,” Westbrook said. “Not much in the paint.”