LeBron James, Lakers Ripped for Losing Game 2 to Grizzlies Despite Ja Morant Injury

The Los Angeles Lakers had a golden chance to take a stranglehold on their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies.

They botched it.

The Grizzlies, despite Ja Morant missing the game with right hand soreness, beat the Lakers 103-93 to even the series at a game apiece. Xavier Tillman led the way with a double-double (22 points, 13 rebounds), and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 18 points, nine boards and three blocks.

LeBron James did his thing, with 28 points and 12 rebounds, while Anthony Davis (13 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field) and D'Angelo Russell (five points, 2-of-11 from the field) had much tougher days at the office.

For the Lakers, the chance to go up 2-0 in the series before heading to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4 was an incredible opportunity to potentially sweep the Grizzlies, and at the very least put themselves firmly in control of the series.

Instead, the momentum has shifted in the series, and NBA Twitter let the Lakers hear about it:

The wide view for the Lakers is that stealing a game on the road was huge, giving them home-court advantage in the series unless they drop a game at home themselves.

The zoomed-in view, however, is that the Lakers had the Grizzlies on the ropes and couldn't capitalize. It seems safe to assume that Morant will almost assuredly return for Game 3 on Saturday, barring a setback.

Los Angeles could never get the Memphis crowd out of the game, with the Grizzlies carrying a 15-point lead into halftime and the Lakers trailing by as many as 20 points in the third quarter. While the Lakers steadily ate into that lead from there, it was too little, too late against the short-handed Grizzlies.