The Lakers’ finest offensive performance of the season came from an unusual trio of Jarred Vanderbilt, D’Angelo Russell, and Austin Reaves. While LeBron James and Anthony Davis helped seal the victory late, the aforementioned trio did the hard lifting to build a 20-plus-point advantage.eled
And, obviously, D’Lo being a blow torch once more is another story. Rumors be damned, Russell is going to keep firing, and nobody should be able to stop him at this rate.
So, let’s evaluate the win. As always, grades are based on each player’s expected performance. A “B” grade denotes an average performance for that player.
Taurean Prince
30 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 5-8 FG, 4-7 3PT, -2
This is about Prince’s best-case scenario, both in terms of minutes and efficiency. Naturally, everyone appears to be a better player when shots are made, but anything more than 30 minutes feels like a declining return for Prince.
Grade: A-
LeBron James
36 minutes, 25 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, 10-19 FG, 3-4 3PT, 2-2 FT, +14
On Thursday, I felt for LeBron. The man continued to approach the rim, getting fouled, and the refs did nothing but watch it all happen.
What stands out about LeBron is his willingness to defer. He always plays the game the proper way, and he had 12 assists while playing alongside a red-hot D’Lo and a Lakers squad that made 20 of its 31 three-pointers.
Grade: B+
Anthony Davis
36 minutes, 22 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 10-18 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-5 FT, +14
AD played a quiet but dominant game. When the ball got to him, he dominated Nikola Vucevic. In the second and fourth quarters, he made some smooth jump shots. But, again, when you make 20 3-pointers in a game, the ball does not spend as much time in the post, which is OK.
Grade: B+
Austin Reaves
33 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 7-9 FG, 2-3 3PT, 4-4 FT, +14
Twenty points on nine shots is an incredibly high efficiency. It’s encouraging to see Reaves respond in this game, especially with his outside shooting. His playfulness was also appreciated.
Now if he could just stop fouling three-point shooters.
Grade: A-
D’Angelo Russell
38 minutes, 29 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 10-18 FG, 8-13 3PT, 1-2 FT, +7
It’s getting difficult to find words to describe D’Lo’s recent performance. His flamethrowing third quarter was impressive, as was his final shot of the night as he faded to the right over numerous defenders. It’s just absurdity.
This is not sustainable. Who knows how long this will last. But, wow, he will make the Lakers’ decision on whether to move him difficult.
Grade: A+
Max Christie
9 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2-2 FT
Darvin Ham reduced his rotation on Thursday, and Christie only saw one stretch on the court. I’m not going to judge him on nine minutes because it was a really average run from him. Nothing nice, nothing awful.
Jarred Vanderbilt
27 minutes, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, 8-11 FG, 1-1 3PT, 0-1 FT, 0
This is definitely the pinnacle of Vanderbilt success. In fact, this could be his finest Lakers game yet. He was outstanding offensively by his standards, driving to the rim, hitting a 3-pointer, and converting steals into baskets. He’s the team’s best cutter, and LeBron rewarded him accordingly.
Vando is fully recovered and healthy, and he needs to see this many minutes on a regular basis now.
Grade: A+
Rui Hachimura
19 minutes, 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3-3 FG, 2-2 3PT, 2-2 FT, +4
Rui had a good bounceback game after struggling against the Clippers. Now, you’d definitely want more from him overall, but if this is a starting point, you can work with it.
Grade: B
Christian Wood
12 minutes, 2 points, 0-1 FG, 2-2 FT, -4
Another player that saw less playing time as the rotation was shortened. Like Christie, it doesn’t feel right to assign him a grade in such a short period of time.
Darvin Ham
Darvin Ham, at least, returned to the lineup that led the Lakers deep into the playoffs last year. Retroactively, I give him a F for not being in that lineup more this year. Tonight, I award him an A+ for completing it. Granted, it was a Vando-less team that made a strong run in the third quarter, so it wasn’t entirely on him.
However, when you average that, you will obtain…
Grade: B
Monday’s DNPs include Jaxson Hayes and Jalen Hood-Schifino.
Monday’s inactives include Skylar Mays, Maxwell Lewis, Dylan Windler, Colin Castleton, Gabe Vincent, and Cam Reddish
