There was nothing the Lakers needed more on Friday than a victory. While it wasn’t certainly a must-win, it was something close to a can’t-lose game.
After a vibes-crushing road trip and the benching of D’Angelo Russell heading into the game, things could have really gone south with a loss.
Instead, the Lakers came out with a very serious approach from the start, put the Sixers down big early and, after a bit of a comeback from Philly in the second quarter, ended all doubt in the third period.
Now, if the Lakers could just play a depleted team at home in every game.
Alas, 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, 31 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 blocks, 11-20 FG, 2-3 3PT, 7-8 FT, +20
The ADMVP candidacy is real and it’s time to shift it up a gear. Yes, this specific game came against an undersized Sixers team, but it was an important game for the Lakers for the reasons stated above.
This is clearly AD’s team now. And boy is he putting his stamp on this season already.
Grade: A
Rui Hachimura
33 minutes, 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-8 FG, 3-6 3PT, -4
It wasn’t a great night from Rui, but that he knocked down a trio of 3-pointers was nice. I’m going to grade him on an even greater curve because I can’t imagine he’s back to full health.
He battled underneath, even if he was woefully undersized against Andre Drummond. But the willingness to get in the paint and battle under the rim is encouraging.
Grade: B-
LeBron James
34 minutes, 21 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assists, 3 blocks, 9-14 FG, 2-4 3PT, 1-1 FT, +12
It was a pretty slow first half for LeBron, but he turned it up in the second half and completely controlled the game. It was one of those “ho-hum” LeBron games where he casually has a 20-point triple-double.
I thought it was a nice game from him defensively, too, both on the boards and rejecting a couple of shots.
Grade: A-
Cam Reddish
28 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3PT, -6
All things considered, this is a very Cam Reddish game. He was good defensively, knocked down a 3-pointer and the Lakers were worse with him on the floor.
In fairness to that last point, I think there are other things he does well outside of his defense. For example, he’s better than most of the other Lakers guards at rebounding.
Cam is a useful player if he stays healthy and hits 3-pointers. He has done neither of those things consistently in his career.
This feels like a placeholder spot in the starting lineup for Jarred Vanderbilt. Or D’Angelo Russell, if he starts making shots again.
Grade: B
Austin Reaves
30 minutes, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block, 7-13 FG, 6-10 3PT, +14
It was really nice to see Reaves, who entered the game shooting 6-29 from range in his last four games, to find his form from range again. The challenge for him, now, should be consistency. Fewer alternating good and bad stretches and, instead, just some regular good 3-point shooting.
Grade: A
Jaxson Hayes
16 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3-4 FG, 2-2 FT, +0
Only Hayes could somehow manage more blocks than rebounds as a center. But I won’t disparage him too much as I’ll happily take a four-block performance from him whenever I can get it.
The two-big lineups for the Lakers also had a good amount of success today.
Grade: B
D’Angelo Russell
25 minutes, 18 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 7-12 FG, 2-4 3PT, 2-3 FT, +13
A great response to being benched is putting together likely your best game of the season. It wasn’t even a night that he caught fire from range, either. It was his attacking the rim that was the most pleasant surprise.
Is that sustainable? Probably not. Most of his finishes on Friday were unorthodox, to say the least.
Grade: A
Gabe Vincent
16 minutes, 2 points, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, +4
What’s left to say about Vincent at this point? If his role isn’t changing, and it doesn’t look like it is, then he’s not going to be more productive.
I understand the idea of splitting up D’Lo and Reaves and inserting a more defensive guard. I actually think you could have made an argument to start Vincent and use him on the ball more, as our own Darius Soriano argued.
But if this is all you’re getting from Vincent, then JJ Redick should probably just play Max Christie, who has more potential.
Grade: D
Dalton Knecht
16 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1-8 FG, 0-5 3PT, +17
Maybe it’s me giving him a lot of benefit of the doubt, but I actually wasn’t all that discouraged by Knecht on Friday. He was doing a lot of things right offensively except the making the shots part. And if there’s an aspect of his game that I’m not worried about in Knecht’s game, it’s his shot-making.
Grade: C+
JJ Redick
Benching D’Angelo Russell was a gutsy call but one that had short-term gains. Is it sustainable long-term? Time will tell.
You can’t give him enough credit for creating an offense that has AD putting up MVP numbers, either.
Grade: A-
Friday’s inactives: Quincy Olivari, Armel Traore, Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
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