Considering how hard they’ve been to come by in recent seasons and what point of the season they’re at, there shouldn’t be many too complaints about the Lakers hanging on to beat the Raptors on Friday.
But it also would be fair to say they made a game that looked set to be an easy win into something much more difficult. After leading by nearly 30 points in the first half, the Lakers had to grind out a win down the stretch.
In many ways, it felt reminiscent to last season. I think it’s fair to say that there’s plenty of rational reasoning to give the team some time to see learn together in this new system to not go too overboard about Friday’s win.
But the PTSD was strong.
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.
Anthony Davis
36 minutes, 38 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 14-20 FG, 10-11 FT, +7
What a dominant display. Just utterly dominant. AD did it in a number of ways on Friday, including repeatedly leaking out for easy baskets.
It also felt that on a number of his attempts, misses and makes, he was fouled and it wasn’t called. This could have easily been a 40-point night. Seeing him not just featured offensively but made the focal point has been glorious to see.
Grade: A+
Rui Hachimura
33 minutes, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-12 FG, 2-5 3PT, 1-1 FT, -6
This was a really rough one for Rui. While I appreciate the mentality he’s had in attacking the rim, he has to mix some things up because he’s getting blocked at least once a game when he gets there.
Now, to his credit, the two fourth-quarter 3-pointers he knocked down were enormous shots. That also speaks to his mentality as well. And it’ll sway my grade a good bit because those were some pressure 3-pointers even if they were open given the context of the game and his struggles to that point.
Grade: C+
LeBron James
36 minutes, 27 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, 9-17 FG, 5-8 3PT, 4-6 FT, +11
A nice bounce back game from LeBron after dealing with illness all week and not looking himself. He hit some really timely 3-pointers in the second half as well.
It did feel like every post-up by LeBron ended in a missed shot. Hopefully with an extra day off before playing in Detroit, he can get back to 100%. But if sub-100% LeBron gives you 27-6-10 at age 40, then you laugh while taking that every time.
Grade: A-
D’Angelo Russell
32 minutes, 19 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 7-13 FG, 3-6 3PT, 2-2 FT, +14
This was pretty safely D’Lo’s best game of the season. While he had moments as a playmaker this season, his scoring was not there.
On Friday, he found his rhythm, including a pair of big buckets in the fourth quarter. Hopefully, this jumpstarts his season because his value drops significantly if he isn’t scoring.
Grade: A-
Austin Reaves
34 minutes, 20 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4-13 FG, 0-6 3PT, 12-14 FT, -3
In the first half, I thought Reaves played well as he was 4-6 from the field and missed his only 3-point attempt. But whether it was the knee/ankle injury he suffered just before the half or something else, he was woeful shooting the ball in the second half.
And still, he found a way to get to the line repeatedly and grift his way to a 20-point game. It was ugly, it was James Harden-esque but it was effective and the Lakers needed it.
Grade: B-
Jaxson Hayes
15 minutes, 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1-1 FG, 2-2 FT, +2
I liked the energy from Jaxson overall on the night. But his minutes also coincided with the Lakers seemingly bleeding points. Some of that I would chalk up to the Lakers giving up a whole lot of baseline backcuts that he couldn’t stop at the rim. Overall, the Lakers’ defense has to get a lot better.
Grade; B
Gabe Vincent
21 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1-6 FG, 0-4 3PT, -4
I want to believe that it’s a process for everyone to adjust to a new system. And I want to believe that Vincent will need some time after basically missing a whole season.
But, man, he’s really sapping a lot of the optimism away. That was a rough showing. When basically every Laker had at least some stretch where they played well, Vincent just struggled throughout.
The best thing going for Vincent is that Jarred Vanderbilt isn’t healthy. Otherwise, it might be his spot in the rotation that would be at jeopardy.
Grade: F
Max Christie
13 minutes, 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1-1 FG, 5-5 FT, +7
It was nice to see Christie have a positive game for maybe the first time this regular season. That most of it came at the free throw line isn’t maybe the most ideal outcome, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Also, please, anyone, someone have a discussion with Max about not going up for a two-handed dunk at the rim every time.
Grade: B+
Dalton Knecht
19 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2-5 FG, 1-3 3PT, +4
Knecht is starting to figure some things out and it’s nice to see. There’ll be an adjustment period of him learning how to contribute against real NBA players and not end-of-bench guys in garbage time.
But there are still the moments and flashes that give plenty of optimism.
Grade: B
Bronny James
Why did he check in? Was it because the fans chanted for him? Let’s not make this a thing.
JJ Redick
In a game like this with such a big comeback, a lot of focus goes to timeout usage to stop runs. I didn’t really have any complaints there. Each timeout felt like it came at the right moment, but he also held them at times and let the Lakers figure some things out.
He also tweaked the rotation to great success, mixing things up to put Austin and LeBron together and D’Lo and AD together. It helped the team hang in there in the end of first quarters when they usually get bludgeoned.
Grade: A-
Friday’s DNPs: Cam Reddish
Friday’s inactives: Jalen Hood-Schifino, Christian Koloko, Maxwell Lewis, Quincy Olivari, Armel Traore, Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood
