The Los Angeles Lakers have a new star in their lineup and he is making an impact. Rui Hachimura has been a key contributor for the Lakers since joining the team in the offseason, and his performance was on full display in Tuesday night’s 112-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Hachimura scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench, and played a key role in the fourth quarter when the game was still in doubt. He was aggressive on both ends of the floor and was able to use his physicality to create scoring opportunities.
“He was excellent off the bench,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “Everybody’s encouraging him to let it all hang out and he’s trying to do that. Different physical matchups, he feels those hits. He feels like he gets the whistle blown on him sometimes unfairly, and that tends to wake him up and he tends to play a lot more physical.”
Hachimura’s performance was just one part of the Lakers’ impressive night. Troy Brown Jr. put on a show with an electrifying one-handed dunk over Memphis’ John Konchar, while Anthony Davis was a monster on the backboards, claiming 22 rebounds.
The Lakers also dominated the glass, outrebounding the Grizzlies 57-45. Davis was joined by Jarred Vanderbilt (eight rebounds), Dennis Schroder and Rui Hachimura (six each), Malik Beasley (five), and Troy Brown Jr. and Austin Reaves (four each).
With the win, the Lakers moved to the ninth spot in the Western Conference standings, just two games behind the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors, who occupy the fifth and sixth spots. The top six teams in each conference get an automatic playoff spot, and the Lakers are hoping to secure one of those spots.
“It’s good, but we’re not satisfied,” Davis said of a play-in spot. “We don’t want to stop there. We want to be greedy, get as many wins as possible and try to keep moving up the ladder. We still got to take care of business and do what we’re supposed to do. But it feels good to move up another spot and continue chasing our goal, which is to not only be in the play-in but possibly securing a top-six spot.”
The Lakers have 16 regular-season games remaining, and with Rui Hachimura’s emergence, they have a great chance of achieving their goal.
