Five takeaways from the Lakers’ 103-100 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies

The most important question after every game the Lakers play is this: What did they learn?

This group has overachieved some to start the season, and with that comes the temptation to reset expectations. That’s not what the Lakers want. They want to keep their focus on development and on learning. They want to keep reminding themselves that, while they want to win games, that’s not what this season is about.

Even as they play through this injury-riddled stretch they’re in, what they learn is more important than where their record stands at the conclusion of the fight.

On Saturday they ended a difficult road trip with a 103-100 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Here are five takeaways from that game and the week preceding it

1.) Lakers Coach Luke Walton is certainly keeping his focus on teaching. That might require reminders from his staff sometimes, but he’s remained consistent in that approach. “It’s nice to have people remind you, experienced people, where we’re at and where we’re trying to get to,” Walton said. “The fact that we’re 10-12 now and we’re having the type of progress this early is something to be happy or proud about.” His actions show a commitment to teaching above immediate results. At one point during the game, Walton pulled Julius Randle from the game so that he could talk over something he’d seen that he didn’t like. Making a substitution simply to make a point is a staple of Walton’s coaching style. He’s done it with the other young guys, even if there might be some strategic benefit to leaving those players in the game.

2.) The Lakers expect big things from Julius Randle, and they are confident they’ll get them. That was a major theme of this whole four-game road trip. He dominated in Chicago, pulling in 20 rebounds and baring a fierce attitude. Saturday’s game was tougher for him. He had six points, six rebounds and five fouls, with a plus/minus of -10. After the game, Walton explained why he so often pulled aside Randle on Saturday for a series of animated discussions. “We expect Julius to be great,” Walton said. “There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that. We’ve talked. Everything that I tell Julius is all about trying to make him better and make him realize this is his team as much as anyone else’s. We want him to be a leader. He got a couple early fouls I think we got frustrated with and that’s part of the process too; you’ve got to learn how to still play aggressive even with fouls. Different situations, different moments.”

3.) Brandon Ingram is learning and growing. Ingram got his third consecutive start on Saturday. He’s logged a lot of minutes — 39 against the Grizzlies — and experienced being guarded by Memphis veteran Tony Allen. Ingram finished the game with nine points, five rebounds and a career high three blocked shots (all of them in the first quarter). Learning how to be a starter is crucial for Ingram and it’s easier to learn that through experience.

4.) Walton used the same “cookie jar” phrase Marcelo Huertas used with me last week to describe what it’s like when opponents try to reach on Lou Williams. “I think he took advantage early of the fact that they have a lot of injuries too and they have rookies out there that aren’t familiar with keeping their hands out of the cookie jar,” Walton said. “He’s great when he recognizes a defender reaching, he gets his shot and he took advantage of that and I think it helped him get in a rhythm.” Williams had 40 points, with 21 of them coming in the second quarter. By halftime he’d shot 11 free throws.

5.) The Lakers do better when they share the ball better. On Saturday the Grizzlies doubled the Lakers’ assists. Memphis had 32 while Los Angeles had a measly 16. The Grizzlies also scored 25 points off the Lakers’ 18 turnovers.

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli