Player grades: Suns vs. Lakers
evaluating each player’s contribution from the Lakers’ 122-119 victory over the Suns.
For the second time this season, the Lakers defeated the Suns with a thrilling comeback in the fourth quarter. The fact that Friday’s win was the Lakers’ first-ever In-Season Tournament game was an added bonus. Jokes aside, the purple and gold defeated one of the other favourites in their group, and it was a crucial victory.
Let’s assess the victory, 122-119. The Lakers were at their healthiest point during their four-game road trip, but they didn’t appear to shift gears and step up their play until the fourth quarter. Each player’s expectations are the basis for their grade. The average performance for the player is indicated with a “B” grade.
Reddish Cam
28 minutes, 5-10 FG, 5-8 3-PT, 2-2 FT +7, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and
Almost everyone was taken aback when head coach Darvin Ham started Cam Reddish in the starting lineup. I must admit that I didn’t like it. It was more difficult for me to justify taking Reaves’ place in the starting lineup than for me to support pulling him out of it.
But Friday, at least, he silenced me. He had a great start, faltered in the midst of the game, and concluded with a flourish. In all likelihood, you couldn’t ask for a better performance from him.
Rating: A+
Wade James
32 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and 11–17 FG, 3–4 3-PT, 7–11 FT, plus two in 36 minutes
Regarding LeBron, what else is there to say that hasn’t been said already? 21st year. approaching 40 years old. And he won this match. Superlatives aren’t really used anymore.
If he’s putting up 32-11-6 on 73.3% true shooting, you can overlook his defence or rebounding efforts for a point or two. This is especially true when grading based on the regular season.
Grade: A
Anthony Davis
36 minutes, 18 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 5-14 FG, 8-8 FT, -5
Davis did not look like himself for most of the game. It’s pretty easy to chalk that up to him maybe not being 100% after returning from injury, but even an AD at whatever percentage he was tonight offered enough…barely.
Typically an opponent he has lots of success against, AD struggled against Jusuf Nurkic on both ends. He wasn’t great on the boards, didn’t jump off the page defensively and floated through a lot of the game offensively.
For now, he gets a bit of leeway with his injury.
Grade: C
Taurean Prince
33 minutes, 7 points, 1 rebound, 2 blocks, 3-8 FG, 0-4 3PT, 1-2 FT, +3
Being matched up with Kevin Durant is a fruitless task defensively. Prince competed well on that end and forced Durant into a number of tough shots. But he’s KD and that didn’t matter.
What I’ve been struck by with Prince early this year is how much more he can do offensively other than being a 3-and-D wing, like attacking the basket as he did late in the game.
Grade: B
D’Angelo Russell
29 minutes, 19 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 6-12 FG, 0-3 3PT, 7-9 FT, +1
Russell did his part at the beginning of the game to try to help the Lakers get off to a better first quarter. Ten of his 19 points came in the opening frame and he was certainly aggressive.
One area that I give him credit for as well was helping get AD some easier baskets in the third quarter which seemed to really ignite Davis and bring him into the game in the second half.
Grade: B
Austin Reaves
35 minutes, 15 points, 7 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 6-11 FG, 2-4 3PT, 1-1 FT, -2
While there may have been concern about who moved into the starting lineup in place of Reaves, there wasn’t any concern that Reaves himself would still bring it. You wouldn’t have been able to tell he had been demoted to the bench in the game based on his effort, which is more than you can say about some players.
And so long as he’s fine with losing the label as a starter, he still played 35 minutes and was on the floor to close the game. He got the important minutes on the night, just not the first ones.
Grade: B+
Christian Wood
18 minutes, 5 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, 2-5 FG, 1-1 3PT, +8
There weren’t any late-game defensive stops vs. Durant in this one, but Wood still played well. The stats weren’t quite as gaudy as they’ve been at times this year but he was impactful.
Grade: B+
Rui Hachimura
20 minutes, 7 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 block, 3-6 FG, 1-3 3PT, 0-1 FT, +6
While the scoring wasn’t quite there as much as it was against the Rockets, he was even more impactful on Friday. Hachimura set a new career high with four steals and was a big part of the early fourth-quarter turnaround.
Grade: B+
Jaxson Hayes
5 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1-1 FG, -5
The Suns don’t have much size, so it was a bit harder to play a multiple-big lineup. Hayes also didn’t really force the issue and make Ham play him more minutes.
Grade: C-
Darvin Ham
Making a big change like benching Reaves for Reddish is a huge risk. But Ham handled it well and both players responded with big games. He also was able to find a solid combination of players early in the fourth that went on a run.
Grade: A-
Friday’s DNPs: Max Christie, Maxwell Lewis
Friday’s inactive: Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Colin Castleton, Alex Fudge, D’Moi Hodge
