If there was one word that might best describe the Lakers, it would be hard to find one more appropriate than unnecessary. This team routinely is unnecessary about so many things, with Sunday being the latest example.
With a big lead and a chance to close their homestand with a comfortable win, the Lakers unnecessarily opted for a far more annoying option of playing some of the most confounding defense down the stretch to give the Pacers 3-pointer after 3-pointer and make it interesting.
Ultimately, they secured the win but it was a familiar feeling of a slightly sour aftertaste in their mouths as the final buzzer sounded.
Alas, let’s grade the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.
Rui Hachimura
30 minutes, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4-8 FG, 1-4 3PT, +6
Boy, this was a rough game for Rui. Offensively, he had a couple of nice moments of taking advantage of the fact the Pacers didn’t have the size to match up with him. But defensively, Pascal Siakam absolutely cooked him. Like to the point he couldn’t be on the floor to close the game. It was few of the positives of having Rui on the floor with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and so many of the negatives.
Grade: D
LeBron James
38 minutes, 26 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 8-19 FG, 2-4 3PT, 8-8 FT, +12
Tonight was a practice of looking at LeBron’s stat line and being stunned at how good it looked. Box score watchers will think this was a fairly average, if not slightly inefficient, game from LeBron.
In reality, it was another very frustrating performance. Like the Sixers game, he looked bad for three quarters and turned it on in the fourth. Unlike the Philly game, he at least took care of the ball with only three turnovers, but this was not a great LeBron performance.
Grade: C+
Anthony Davis
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40 minutes, 36 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 15-21 FG, 1-2 3PT, 5-5 FT, +11
The In-Season Tournament showed the Pacers had no answer for Anthony Davis and that played out the same on Sunday. He got whatever he wanted whenever he wanted all game long.
Somehow, a 36-16 game on 15-21 shooting is only his second-best performance against the Pacers this year. And he has yet another game against them later this week.
Grade: A+
Austin Reaves
37 minutes, 25 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block, 6-13 FG, 2-5 3PT, 11-12 FT, +4
This was a tale of two ends of the court for Reaves. Offensively, he was good overall. The 12 free throw attempts are the fifth-most in his career and the most he’s had in nearly a year. And he hit some really big freebies down the stretch that proved important.
But those free throws proved important because he was absolutely bleeding points defensively. Even prior to the final minutes, he could not keep guys in front of him, most notably T.J. McConnell. And then there was the barrage of 3-pointers the Pacers had close the contest, many of which came because LeBron and Reaves inexplicably could not figure out how to switch.
It feels harsh to give him a below-average grade on a night he had 25 points, but that was some brutal defense at times.
Grade: C+
Spencer Dinwiddie
35 minutes, 26 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 8-11 FG, 2-3 3PT, 8-9 FT, +0
Did it take much longer than expected for Dinwiddie to find his role in this team? Absolutely. But it sure seems, based on the last two games, that he is finally comfortable.
On Sunday, you could not conceivably ask for more from Dinwiddie. Stepping into the starting lineup in place of the ill D’Angelo Russell, Dinwiddie had not just one of his best games as a Laker but one of his best games of the season.
The task now is for him to maintain this level when coming off the bench. But if he can, then perhaps the Lakers can finally reap the benefits of landing the biggest buyout signing.
Grade: A+
Cam Reddish
23 minutes, 7 points, 2 steals, 1-5 FG, 1-3 3PT, 4-6 FT, +1
I’m trying to be nice about this and trying to recognize that Reddish is coming back from injury, but it’s hard to really rationalize why he closed this game. The team was not getting stops defensively and, on at least one of the Pacers’ late 3-pointers, Reddish was partially at fault.
Offensively, he missed an open corner 3-pointer and blew an incredibly ambitious dunk attempt down the stretch. The Lakers were searching for answers with Siakam cooking and the Pacers rolling but Reddish was not the solution.
Grade: D
Taurean Prince
19 minutes, 14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 6-8 FG, 2-3 3PT, 0-1 FT, -3
There’s not a long list, but this is up there with one of the best games Prince has played for the Lakers. Again, his move to the bench seemed to make him more aggressive. He’s attacked the rim more since going to the bench than he did in the entirety of his run as a starter.
When he’s playing like this off the bench, it gives the Lakers an enormous boost that they haven’t regularly had.
Grade: A
Max Christie
9 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3PT, +0
I’m normally a big proponent of Christie getting minutes nightly, but it was pretty hard to make that case on Sunday. On separate defensive possessions in the second quarter, Christie lost Doug McDermott chasing him around the corner and gave up a 3-pointer and also allowed McConnell to drive right by him to the rim.
You won’t get much playing time under Darvin Ham if you’re doing that.
Grade: C-
Jaxson Hayes
8 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1-3 FG, 2-2 FT, -6
Four rebounds in eight minutes for Hayes feels like a typo by the scorekeeper. I think a couple of them came in one wacky possession for the Lakers but, nonetheless, you’ll take it!
His minutes were down, though, because AD was just dominant. He still played his part effectively in his limited time.
Grade: B+
Darvin Ham
There were some head-scratchers in this one, but the one segment that stuck out most to me was early in the fourth quarter when the Lakers opened without LeBron or AD on the floor. The Pacers went on a run and while a lot more went wrong after that to allow the visitors to make it a game, letting them go on a run and gain momentum was bizarre.
I imagine a number of people will point to him for the late-game execution defensively, or lack thereof, but I’m of the belief that grown adult NBA players should know to switch in those situations and it should not be Ham’s responsibility to tell them that.
Grade: C-
Sunday’s DNPs: Harry Giles III, Maxwell Lewis, Skylar Mays
Sunday’s inactives: Jalen Hood-Schifino, Christian Wood, Colin Castleton, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, D’Angelo Russell
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
