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The seventh-seeded LA Lakers crushed Ja Morant and the second-ranked Memphis Grizzlies 125-85 in Game 6 on Friday night. Memphis will have a long offseason to ponder after what could have been.
Basketball fans immediately trolled the All-Star point guard and his teammates after the loss:
"BREAKING: Memphis grizzlies have already deployed to Cancun"
The Memphis Grizzlies have been all bark and talk this season. Ja Morant asserted in December that he was "fine in the West." He considered the Boston Celtics to be the team to beat for the NBA championship.
Morant couldn't even lead his team past the seventh-seeded Lakers in the first-round of the playoffs.
Dillon Brooks, after winning Game 2 without their All-Star point guard, bravely told the media he wished he could have faced prime LeBron James. Brooks called the four-time MVP "old" and that he wasn't afraid to poke bears.
The Grizzlies' enforcer added that he doesn't respect anyone who doesn't give him 40 points. Well, the LA Lakers gave his team a humiliating 40-point thrashing in an elimination game.
Despite all their bravado, the Memphis Grizzlies had no answer for the LA Lakers all-game long. LA outscored them in all four quarters and crushed them in all but one statistical category. Memphis' 10 steals to LA's six was the only battle they won tonight.
Ja Morant had a spectacular Game 5 but came back down in Game 6. The Lakers' defense shackled him to just 10 points on 3-16 shooting, including 2-7 from deep. As Los Angeles' lead ballooned, he only became more hesitant.
The right hand injury might have been a factor, but that wasn't the case in Game 5 in front of Grizzlies fans. Morant had a net rating of -31, the worst in the game.
Desmond Bane, like Morant and Dillon Brooks, also had something to say to the LA Lakers after their last win. He told the media that the series will return to Memphis.
Bane finished with 15 points on 16 shots. The Grizzlies will return to Memphis, but not for Game 7. They will have to pack up their things for a long off-season.
Jack Nicholson watched the LA Lakers' demolition of Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies
The LA Lakers embarrassingly missed last year's postseason despite a star-studded lineup. LeBron James admitted that he was hurt watching the playoffs without being a part of it. He vowed not to miss the playoffs again in his career.
Coming in to support James and his crew were several of Hollywood's A-listers. One of them was the legendary Jack Nicholson, who hasn't sat in his usual courtside seat in two years.
The last time Nicholson saw the Lakers live in action was at the start of the 2021 season. Laker Nation appreciated his presence and gave him a standing ovation on a few occasions.
LA's crowd was into the game from start to finish. They hardly sat as their team obliterated their brash opponents. Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks received the loudest boos among the Grizzlies.
