L.A. falls short to Grizzlies without LeBron James

Life without LeBron James is going to be very challenging for the Los Angeles Lakers, as he is expected to miss at least two weeks with a right foot injury.

Without him, they took on the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, and for a while, they competed hard.

The Lakers were right there with Ja Morant and company in the first half, as they took a 49-46 halftime lead, but the dam burst in the third quarter, as they gave up 47 points in that frame, 28 of which were scored by Morant.

Los Angeles just didn’t have the firepower to respond after falling behind by double digits, and it lost to the Grizzlies 121-109. The biggest problem for it was turnovers, as it gave the ball away a whopping 26 times, which led to 33 fast-break points for Memphis.

The Lakers will take the court tomorrow night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are one spot behind them in 13th place in the Western Conference.

Anthony Davis: A+

With James out, Davis is the man many have said needs to step up and lead the way, and he certainly did his part on Tuesday.

Although he didn’t score much in the first half, he was a force defensively and on the boards. His offense started to come around in the third quarter, and he finished with 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting and 10-of-13 from the free throw line, plus 19 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Jarred Vanderbilt: B-

The Lakers can count on Vanderbilt to bring the effort and energy. He grabbed eight rebounds and had one steal and one blocked shot in 29 minutes, and he hit the floor multiple times going after the ball.

Defensively, he took his shot at guarding multiple Grizzlies, including even Morant, but Morant had his way, finishing with 39 points.

But it was a frustrating night in some ways for Vanderbilt. He made just 1-of-6 shots and turned the ball over three times, and a few times he seemed frustrated that he wasn’t the beneficiary of foul calls when he felt he got hit.

Troy Brown Jr.: D

Brown got the start in place of James, and he played very poorly. He…