The 2021-22 season has been, to put it mildly, off to a rocky start for the Lakers. They went 0-fer the entire preseason, then dropped the opening pair of regular season games, the second a loss to the Phoenix Suns, featuring a variety of meltdowns over officiating and a timeout brouhaha between Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard. Frankly, the team really needed a win, and finally got one against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, 121-118. It wasn't always pretty or textbook. Budding superstar guard Ja Morant (40 points, 10 assists) carved up the Lakers' defense. The ball still gets turned over way too often. Russell Westbrook remains very inefficient from the floor. And so on and so forth.

However, there were also plenty of positives. Carmelo Anthony led the Lakers with 28 points off the bench, fueling a win that saw him pass Moses Malone to become number nine on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Anthony Davis played exceptional defense inside and along the perimeter. Russell Westbrook (who notched 13 assists, albeit against nine turnovers) and LeBron James displayed some periodic flash working in tandem. And the team looked on balance its best over three games, by a significant margin.

To be certain, a lot of work remains ahead of the Lakers. Like... a LOT. But everyone knew going into this season that even a successful campaign would be spent as a work in progress. That's just the deal for this particular roster. Thus, it's important to play well and improve, but sometimes you also gotta just take the W and gratefully keep it moving. And on Sunday, the Lakers ultimately did both.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT ONE: Reaction to the win, and what stood out most to the Kamenetzkys.

SEGMENT TWO: What's starting to work for Westbrook, and what's still eluding him.

SEGMENT THREE: Thoughts on Melo's historic night, and how enjoyable his presence on the Lakers has been.

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