Grades for LeBron James, Austin Reaves in Lakers win vs Raptors

The vibes were in a pretty rough place on Sunday as Anthony Davis walked off the floor on Sunday with only one eye open.

The Lakers were embroiled in another closely-contested game against the Raptors and had trailed for most of the first half. With AD exiting in a game the Lakers trailed by three, it felt like the precursor to a big Toronto run and a frustrating home loss.

Instead, LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Jaxson Hayes all stepped up in a big way. A triple-double from LeBron, 22 second-half points from Reaves and a season-high 12 points from Hayes paved the way for the Lakers not to just win, but pull away in the fourth quarter.

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

26 minutes, 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 6-8 FG, 2-2 3PT, 8-10 FT, -3

Putting up 22 points when you don’t even play in the final 18 minutes is impressive. But the greater concern is his availability moving forward. Head coach JJ Redick did not have an update postgame, but the Lakers will benefit from an extra day off as they won’t play again until Wednesday.

I might have wanted a little bit more from AD on the boards, but Jakob Poeltl was frustratingly good on Sunday.

Also, it’s time to wear goggles, AD.

Grade: A-

Rui Hachimura

32 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 2-11 FG, 0-5 3PT, +6

Against every team not based in Toronto, Rui is shooting 37-77 (48%) from the field and 13-22 (48%) from the 3-point line. Against the Raptors, he went 5-23 (22%) from the field and 2-10 (20%) from range in a 10-day span.

He can just be thankful that he won’t be playing Toronto again this year.

Grade: D-

LeBron James

35 minutes, 19 points, 10 rebounds, 16 assists, 1 steal, 6-14 FG, 0-3 3PT, 7-7 FT, +13

Maybe it’s just LeBron slowly working his way into the game. Maybe it’s the fact he’s 39 years old. But LeBron has started slow in a number of games this year before finishing strong.

Specifically on Sunday, he really turned it up a couple notches when AD left. He sensed the moment, knew he needed to fill a void and completely took over.

Grade: A

Cam Reddish

29 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 5-7 FG, 1-3 3PT, +7

I’m still skeptical about the long-term viability of the Reddish in the starting lineup, but in the short term, it’s working. On Sunday, he had a couple of nice finishes around the rim that are almost certainly unsustainable.

There are worse things to do the ride the wave of Reddish playing well. The hope is that Redick is better at pulling the plug when, not if, things go awry.

Grade: A-

Austin Reaves

33 minutes, 27 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 1 steal, 10-17 FG, 3-9 3PT, 4-5 FT, +11

The first half was pretty woeful from Reaves. He was put in a lot of actions defensively and it seemed to impact his game offensively. But he, too, stepped up in a big way with AD out.

Along with LeBron, Reaves took over in the fourth and made sure the Lakers weren’t going to sweat out another win over Toronto.

Grade: A+

Jaxson Hayes

21 minutes, 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4-6 FG, 4-6 FT, +21

A huge second half for Hayes, who played 14 of the final 18 minutes after AD exited with two minutes he didn’t play being garbage time.

In short, it was a huge effort from him in the second half. His team-best plus-minus of +21 is a very fair indication of the impact he had on Sunday.

Grade: A+

D’Angelo Russell

27 minutes, 15 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 6-13 FG, 3-9 3PT, +18

I think there are some changes that could be made when Jarred Vanderbilt is healthy that could see D’Lo return to the starting lineup, but he’s been good off the bench in the last two games.

No matter whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, so long as he’s making shots, he will get plenty of minutes.

Grade: B+

Gabe Vincent

18 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 2-5 FG, 1-3 3PT, +13

I thought this was one of Gabe’s best games of the season. His point total doesn’t really reflect that but his plus-minus does. He seemed more involved and impactful offensively and made some plays defensively.

Now, stack some good games together.

Grade: C+

Dalton Knecht

14 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2-4 FG, 1-2 3PT, +14

Another player who has stacked some strong games back-to-back over the weekend. The stats didn’t show that on Friday but they did a better job of doing so on Sunday. The one 3-pointer he hit was a huge one for momentum.

Hopefully, that snaps him out of his slump and he can return to his flamethrower form of the preseason.

Grade: B

JJ Redick

Did I criticize Redick in our Playback stream for his challenge only to be immediately proven wrong? Who’s to say, really?