LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were handed their fourth loss of the season on Wednesday night in a 17-point blowout at the hands of Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. It mercifully ended a 1-4 road trip and brought L.A. to 4-4 on the season after a 3-0 start.
However, Wednesday’s loss doesn’t appear that it’s a figment of anything bigger about the team. L.A. was missing two starters in Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura, still without Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood and had Christian Koloko playing his first NBA minutes in over a year.