National Basketball Association
L.A. Lakers 116, Memphis 102
When: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials: #22 Bill Spooner, #56 Mark Ayotte, #52 Scott Twardoski
Attendance: 18997

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton rides Julius Randle as hard as anyone. Walton's tough-love approach paid dividends in a Lakers' win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

Randle recorded his third career triple-double and second this season as the Lakers ended a three-game skid with a 116-102 victory over the Grizzlies at Staples Center.

Randle finished with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting, 14 rebounds and 11 assists as the Lakers (13-25) won for only the third time in 18 games. It was the first triple-double allowed by Memphis in an NBA-long run of 177 games (192 including the postseason) since Michael Carter-Williams registered one against the Grizzlies on Dec. 13, 2014.

"The thing I liked the most about his game tonight was he was alert the whole game," Walton said. "And he still made mistakes, but there was never a time he was on the court where he was just standing up and checked out of a possession.

"That's huge progress, and when we get that type of alertness, obviously he's not going to put those numbers up every night. The numbers will come and go, but that type of alertness while he's on the court is going to make us a lot better."

Walton called out Randle at practice on Monday. It wasn't the first time Walton has been critical of Randle. Afterward, Walton used a softer method by dialing up the power forward to make sure he still wasn't angry.

"He pissed me off," Randle said. "I was mad at the moment, but it's just him challenging me to do more and accept the challenge of being coachable."

Nick Young led the Lakers with 20 points, with all his field goals (6 of 11) coming from long distance. D'Angelo Russell also made six 3-pointers and scored 18 points. The Lakers finished with a season-high 17 3-pointers on 33 attempts (51.5 percent). They converted 16 in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Dec. 20.

Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to score 16 points and Lou Williams had 14. Center Timofey Mozgov also scored 14 points.

Memphis center Marc Gasol, who was a game-time decision with a left ankle sprain, collected 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Point guard Mike Conley contributed 21 points, Vince Carter added 12 and Zach Randolph had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Grizzlies (22-15).

However, the Memphis starters not named Gasol and Conley combined for only 13 points.

"We had our L.A. cool jacket on tonight," Memphis coach David Fizdale said. "I don't know who we were performing for but it wasn't for each other. We just have a way of having this other team creep in with us. We show signs of greatness and then we are just zombies out there and tonight was one of those nights."

Los Angeles blew the game open in the third quarter, padding a nine-point halftime lead into a double-digit affair. The Lakers extended their advantage to as much as 17 before taking a 91-77 edge heading into the final quarter.

"They made a lot of shots, and they made all kinds of shots," Gasol said.

The Lakers rode their 3-point shooting to grab a 57-48 lead at the break. They connected on 11 of 19 from beyond the arc, eight of those occurring in the second quarter, to 6 of 15 for the Grizzlies in the first half. Memphis managed 10 of 31 on 3-pointers for the game.

Young and Russell hit five 3-pointers apiece, with each scoring 15 points by intermission.

Los Angeles had 34 assists to 18 for Memphis. For the Lakers, the total was two shy of their season high.

"I think we just had some good practices going into it, just one of those nights," Young said. "We saw the guys get hot and kept going to them. Of course, Julius was unbelievable tonight with the triple-double."

The win allowed Los Angeles to avenge a 103-100 setback at Memphis on Dec. 3.

NOTES: SG Nick Young's 36 3-pointers over the previous eight games were the most ever by a Laker. Young broke Nick Van Exel's mark of 33 treys in the same number of games in January 1995. Van Exel is an assistant coach with Memphis. ... Grizzlies C Marc Gasol made 49 of 120 attempts from 3-point range in 35 games after hitting only 12 in his first eight NBA seasons. ... The clubs face off again April 2 at Staples Center. ... The Grizzlies play the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at Staples. ... The Lakers visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.
Top Game Performances
 
Memphis   L.A. Lakers
Marc Gasol 22 Scoring Nick Young 20
Marc Gasol 7 Assists Julius Randle 11
Zach Randolph 9 Rebounds Julius Randle 14
Andrew Harrison 8 Free Throws Made Lou Williams 5
Tony Allen 1 Steals Tarik Black 1
Vince Carter 1 Blocks Brandon Ingram 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Memphis 102 39.0 10-31 32-35 18 39 1 6 10
L.A. Lakers 116 51.2 17-33 15-28 34 43 2 5 10
Upcoming Games
  • L.A. Lakers will play their next game on the road against Portland. The Lakers have a W/L % of .250 after a win and .385 after a loss.
  • Memphis will play their next game on the road against LA Clippers. The Grizzlies have a W/L % of .545 after a win and .667 after a loss.