A week ago, the biggest question surrounding the Lakers was whether they were a serious team capable of beating good opponents. Fast forward a week and the answer is much clearer.
Two games do not define a team, but the Lakers beating the Knicks and Timberwolves in back-to-back contests at this time in the season should go some way in quelling the notion that they can’t hang with the top teams in each conference.
Do the teams they beat have flaws? Yes. But they largely dominated both contests, too. On Tuesday, they had one of their worst quarters of the season offensively to open the game, found their footing in the second period and took off after halftime.
The result is the Lakers winning six of their last seven games as they’re finding their groove at the right time.
So, let’s dive into the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.
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Marcus Smart
31 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 fouls, 3-7 FT, 1-4 3PT, 1-1 FT, +14
Another game where Smart doesn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but he’s still fantastic. He took a pair of charges and was making all sorts of plays defensively for the second game in a row.
Grade: A-
Rui Hachimura
24 minutes, 9 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 5 fouls, 4-8 FG, 1-4 3PT, +3
Rui had the unenviable task of being the nominal big in some small ball looks the Lakers had to go to with so many of their forwards and centers out. That meant he got into foul trouble pretty quickly in the second half and didn’t have much of an impact in the final two quarters.
Grade: B-
Deandre Ayton
34 minutes, 14 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 fouls, 7-11 FG, 0-2 FT, +10
There’s an argument, given the opponent and the context of who wasn’t available, that this was Ayton’s best game of the season. There was a lot of pressure on him to perform because the Lakers had noone else to turn to and he responded in a huge way.
Grade: A
Austin Reaves
38 minutes, 31 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 10-20 FG, 4-10 3PT, 7-9 FT, +18
Austin was very quiet in the first half and very loud in the third quarter and second half overall. He roared to life out of the locker room and started burying four-point plays and every midrange jumper possible.
Grade: A
Luka Dončić
35 minutes, 31 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 11-24 FG, 4-12 3PT, 5-6 FT, +20
Another ho-hum triple-double and a game where he has a plus-minus of +20. Nothing big here. In a race for so many in the national media to try to explain why Luka’s numbers actually aren’t that good, they seem to just be overlooking how consistently great he’s been.
Grade: A
Luke Kennard
26 minutes, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 4 fouls, 5-8 FG, 0-2 3PT, +2
On a night where he was great yet again, it could have been even better. He had a three roll all the way around the rim and out and set up Ayton with a fantastic pass before he was blocked by Naz Reid.
Grade: B+
Jake LaRavia
25 minutes, 8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 foul, 1-7 FG, 0-2 3PT, 6-8 FT, +13
This was a great Marcus Smart imitation from LaRavia. He could not hit a shot to save his life, but made up for it with his activity, effort, hustle and defensive playmaking. It was a great game from him despite shooting 14% from the field.
Grade: A-
Jarred Vanderbilt
15 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 2-5 FG, 0-2 3PT, -1
Vando was up to his old tricks in this one. He had some great defensive sequences by staying in front of ball handlers. But it was the stuff he did when the ball wasn’t even in play that is typical Vando with small brouhahas with Bones Hyland and Donte DiVincenzo.
As a quick aside, since we’re on the topic, I’m sure I didn’t see Hyland tell the Lakers bench to sit down after hitting a shot when his side was trailing by nearly 20 points, right? Because that would be a crazy thing to do.
Grade: B
Drew Timme, Adou Thiero, Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, Kobe Bufkin
I was a little surprised we didn’t see more Timme in this one, but Redick clearly tends to go small and space the floor when he doesn’t have centers.
JJ Redick
Even the most ardent Redick non-believers surely have to admit that he’s, again, doing a great job of getting this team playing its best basketball late in the season.
The Lakers are playing terrific defense and have navigated injuries all year long. Despite how infrequently he’s had his big three together, they are 15 games over .500 heading into the final month of the season with home court advantage well within their grasp for the playoffs.
Friday’s inactives: Jaxson Hayes, Maxi Kleber, LeBron James, Nick Smith Jr., Chris Mañon
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
