Call it deja vu.

For the second time in three days, the Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena, took a close game into the fourth quarter and pulled away late behind the scoring punch of the same three players.

Again fueled by LeBron James (26 points, 10 assists), Luka Doncic (36 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) and Jake LaRavia (26 points), the Lakers overcame a 16-point first-half deficit to win 120-114 on Sunday against the Grizzlies.

After James and Doncic each scored 30 in Friday's win that also featured a 20-point performance from LaRavia, the Lakers (22-11) won consecutive games for just the second time in five weeks.

Read more:Luka Doncic and LeBron James lead Lakers comeback to beat the Grizzlies again

Here are three takeaways from the win:

It wasn’t an accident that the Lakers’ first play went to Deandre Ayton. Or that the star big man got the first shot of the third. Or that teammates fed him for back-to-back dunks to help spark a run of five consecutive scoring possessions early in the second half.

After Ayton finished last Friday’s win on the bench, the 7-foot center bounced back with 15 points and eight rebounds against the Grizzlies on Sunday as the Lakers made a point to involve the big man early.

Ayton scored just four points with six rebounds during Friday’s win and watched a tight fourth quarter from the bench because, as coach JJ Redick said, backup Jaxson Hayes “was playing better.” Redick said Saturday that Ayton was “frustrated” he wasn’t getting the ball more in recent games, and his disillusionment showed up on the court.

“It's a tale as old as time for a big guy,” Redick said after Sunday’s game. “That's the reality of being a big: someone has to pass you the ball. You're not initiating the offense.”

Redick said the team identified moments where teammates could have been better at finding the former No. 1 overall pick. There were also other times when Ayton could have been more active on his own. Redick said he mostly wanted to see Ayton being active, engaged and assertive in the game.

Ayton responded by converting six of his eight shots Sunday and helping the team lock down on defense in the fourth. The Lakers clawed back from an 11-point deficit late in the third and held the Grizzlies (15-19) to just 16 points in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. Ayton had two blocks in the fourth quarter.

“We're winning the right way,” Ayton said. “Bigs can't feed themselves and I just try my best to do what I can to bring effort. And I trust my playmakers out there to find me."

The Lakers had 30 assists on 38 made shots, their highest percentage of assisted field goals of the season.

Redick said Saturday the Lakers flubbed eight of their 12 after timeout plays against Memphis on Friday. They repeated two of the plays to only mess them up again. They tried one a third time and it still didn’t take.

Baffled, Redick said at practice that he chalked up the mistakes to “the holidays.”

“It's unacceptable,” James said Sunday when asked of the execution errors. “... If you mess up a play out of a timeout, that'd be another one to get you running sprints. That's just how I was brought up. It's great that we can have that type of conversation. Guys hear it, take it and take full responsibility and then come in here and be able to make that change like that, that 180 change, right away.”

The Lakers had just one mistake after a timeout Sunday, Redick noted. He said he challenged players before Sunday’s game on their execution overall, but especially their after timeout execution. It was especially strong down the stretch as the Lakers held on to improve to 12-0 in clutch-time games.

“The intent overall,” Redick said of the team’s ability to handle the simple things, “was at the very least a B-minus.”

Doncic watched with desperation as the shot soared through the air. When his clutch three that put the Lakers up by nine with 2:08 remaining splashed through the net, Doncic slumped his shoulders and leaned his head back in relief.

This shooting slump had been weighing on him.

Read more:Luka Doncic and LeBron James help fuel late Lakers surge in win over Grizzlies

Before hitting four of 10 three-point shots Sunday, including two in the fourth quarter to fuel the Lakers’ comeback, Doncic was 20-for-89 (22.5%) from three-point range since he returned from a two-game absence for the birth of his second daughter. His shooting Sunday was his most efficient performance from beyond the arc since Nov. 28 against Dallas when he made four of nine from three and finished with 35 points.

“It's hard with him, because he kind of gets into attack mode, and he's so good that he believes that he can make every shot,” Redick said before the game. “And in the same vein, he believes he can make every pass. And some of those decisions lead to very difficult shots, and they lead to very difficult passes that oftentimes lead to turnovers. … Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] used to talk about Bobby Hurley all the time. His player trait was 'daring.' And when you have a daring player, you have to be willing to live with some stuff.”

Despite shooting almost a career-worst 31.7% from three this season, Doncic is still leading the league in scoring with 33.7 points per game. He is getting to the free throw line more than ever in his career, averaging 12.1 attempts per game. He was 12 for 13 on Sunday.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.