Over the past five weeks, the Los Angeles Lakers have plunged in the standings. After winning the in-season tournament, they were in fourth place in the Western Conference. They came into Monday in 11th place with a 19-21 record.
On Monday, they hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that had the second-best record in the West and had won 12 of its last 15 games. Yet again, head coach Darvin Ham changed his starting lineup, and it looked like perhaps another loss in the making when L.A. looked shaky in the early moments of the contest, especially defensively.
But the Lakers started to find their game midway through the first quarter and went up by as many as eight points, although that lead was cut to one at the end of the period. The score was tied at 50 at halftime, but Los Angeles warmed up offensively and took an 84-76 lead into the fourth quarter. It ran up its lead to as many as 13 points, and despite some late-game miscues, held on for a 112-105 victory.
Although the Lakers shot 52.4% from the field, they won this game with defense. They held the Thunder, who came in third in scoring and second in shooting accuracy, to 41.7% shooting from the field and 30.6% from 3-point range. That defense allowed L.A. to score 21 fast-break points, while it surrendered only 11 fast-break points to the Thunder.
In addition, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who came into this game third in scoring average, scored a modest 24 points, while Rookie of the Year favorite Chet Holmgren managed just nine points on nine shot attempts.
This win moves the Lakers into 10th place in the Western Conference. Once again, they will have the opportunity to build on a big victory and start to win games in bunches.
Anthony Davis: A
As he was on Saturday against the Utah Jazz, Davis was often double-teamed once he got the ball in the post. He made just four of his first 11 shots, but he figured out how to get things done afterward. For the game, he shot 9-of-17 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line to score 27 points. He also grabbed 15 rebounds, dished off five assists and added two steals and one blocked shot.
By thoroughly outplaying Holmgren, Davis may have sent a message.
Taurean Prince: D
This was an off night for Prince, who has shot very well from downtown for a while. He shot 1-of-5 from that distance and scored just three points, to go along with three assists, two rebounds and one block.
D'Angelo Russell: B-minus/B
Russell shot 5-of-12 overall and 2-of-7 from beyond the arc while committing five turnovers. But he dished six assists and did a good job of attacking in the open court instead of settling for a halfcourt play after a defensive rebound or forced turnover.
He finished with 14 points and added two steals in 36 minutes.
Austin Reaves: B-plus
After a rough stretch in which he seemingly couldn’t buy a 3-pointer, Reaves has had three strong games in a row. On Monday, he shot 6-of-10 overall and finished with 15 points, seven assists, three rebounds and one block.
Now that he’s starting alongside Russell, Reaves hasn’t been operating as a main ball-handler as much as previously. It seems to have freed him up, as he hasn’t had to work as hard to get good looks offensively.
LeBron James: B-plus
James was 4-of-10 in the first half, but he started to turn up his play in the third quarter. He shot 12-of-20 for the game and did a good job of getting buckets in the paint, either off the dribble or off passes from teammates.
For the game, he had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists, although he did commit five turnovers. Oddly enough, he attempted just one free throw all night, which he missed.
Rui Hachimura: B-plus
In his second game back from a strained calf, Hachimura again provided plenty of pop off the bench. He had a dozen points in 20 minutes while making five of his eight shot attempts and two of his three tries from 3-point range. He also added two blocked shots, one of which was an emphatic rejection of a shot attempt by Gilgeous-Alexander.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B-plus
In 18 minutes, Vanderbilt had a decent four rebounds, but he found a way to be effective offensively, and it came from his defensive effort.
He had a nice interception midway through the third quarter that he turned into a fast-break layup for himself. Later in the period, he produced another steal and delivered a beautiful pass to Davis in transition for a dunk. Early in the fourth quarter, his third steal resulted in another fast-break layup for him.
Christian Wood: A
Wood has been playing very well over the past couple of weeks after a very disappointing start to the season. He shot 4-of-7 and scored 11 points while bringing down seven rebounds and blocking three shots in 14 minutes.
He has been showing good effort boxing out and even on the defensive end. Defense was a big concern for him coming into this season, but the advanced stats show that coming into Monday’s game, the Lakers had a 108.2 defensive rating with him on the court and a 115.6 defensive rating without him.
Max Christie: D
In 11 minutes, Christie had minimal impact. He missed his only two shot attempts, and his only positive contribution was one offensive rebound.
