Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves looked like a very difficult one for the Los Angeles Lakers from the start.
The Lakers came in with a three-game losing streak, and they had been on the road for most of December, which means fatigue has been building up. Furthermore, Minnesota had the Western Conference’s best record and the NBA’s best defensive rating.
But the Lakers’ chances of winning diminished even more when it was announced LeBron James wouldn’t play due to what was termed ankle tendinitis.
Somehow, the Lakers competed well. They started in strong fashion, establishing a 12-5 lead. But as has been the case so often lately, that lead evaporated quickly amid a cluster of turnovers, opponent fast breaks and 3-pointers.
Unlike in recent games, however, L.A. stymied Minnesota’s run and stayed within two possessions for much of the second quarter. It trailed by just four points at halftime and at the end of the third quarter. In the end, though, it simply didn’t have enough firepower or muscle, and it fell to the Timberwolves, 118-111.
Los Angeles hurt itself with 17 turnovers, several of which were careless. Yet again, it was significantly outscored in the 3-point shooting department. While it shot an excellent 10-of-23 from that distance, Minnesota went 14-of-36. Getting beat chiefly on 3-point shooting volume has become a broken record for the Lakers, who were ahead or at least competitive in many other statistical categories.
They are 15-14 and in 10th place in the Western Conference. If the regular season ended today, they would have to win back-to-back play-in tournament games on the road just to reach the playoffs.
Anthony Davis: A/A-minus
Davis is having an excellent December. On Thursday, he did his best to carry the Lakers without James. He had 10 points in the first quarter and 18 in the first half. He ended up with 31 points on 11-of-20 shooting and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. He consistently hit his jumper, and he also attacked the paint despite the presence of two shot-blocking Minnesota big men in Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Davis had four assists and three blocked shots but only eight rebounds, which is somewhat lackluster by his standards. Los Angeles was outrebounded by one but gave up 17 second-chance points, and it could’ve used more help from Davis in the latter category.
Taurean Prince: A
After a rough start to the season, Prince has been red-hot throughout December. Thursday was no exception, as he hit all four of his 3-point attempts and finished with 14 points while adding five rebounds and one assist in 37 minutes.
Prince is shooting an excellent 39.4% from downtown on 5.3 attempts a contest on the season. The Lakers badly need him to keep up that type of production.
Cam Reddish: C-plus/B-minus
Reddish did a good job of attacking the basket off the dribble versus Minnesota. However, he shot just 3-of-8 and missed both of his 3-point attempts. He finished with eight points, two assists, one rebound and one steal.
Rui Hachimura: A-minus
Hachimura started in place of James, and he responded with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He was aggressive in terms of getting to his spots off the dribble and attacking in transition. The forward added five rebounds and one steal, but he only made two of his six free throw attempts.
D'Angelo Russell: C
Russell missed 10 of his first 12 shots, and he was having an awful night. He committed four turnovers, and at least one of them was of the careless or unforced variety.
But he hit three consecutive buckets in the fourth quarter and two straight 3-pointers late in the period to finish 7-of-19 from the field, giving him 17 points. Head coach Darvin Ham kept him in the game down the stretch when plenty of fans likely wanted him to take a seat on the bench, and he responded by going 5-of-8 in the final quarter.
For the game, Russell also had eight assists and four rebounds, and he even made a defensive contribution with three blocked shots and two steals.
Jarred Vanderbilt: C-plus
In 14 minutes off the bench, Vanderbilt grabbed five rebounds and made the effort to pressure Anthony Edwards. While Edwards had a strong game with 27 points on 9-of-19 shooting, he didn’t really go on any extended runs, especially when Vanderbilt was on him.
But the forward missed all three of his shots, and while L.A. doesn’t need a lot of offense from him, it does need him to knock down a few shots per game to keep defenses honest.
Austin Reaves: A-minus
In 27 minutes, Reaves scored an efficient 20 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. He has been consistently putting pressure on opponents by attacking off the dribble and getting to his spots, and while he may feel he isn’t getting as many calls as he did last season, he has been taking advantage when he has gotten to the free-throw line.
Jaxson Hayes: C-plus
In 11 minutes, Hayes had three rebounds and one assist while contributing three points.
Christian Wood: F
After playing significant minutes in October and November, Wood’s playing time has been sporadic in December. He got onto the court for three minutes and 30 seconds against the Timberwolves, but he made no positive contribution on the stat sheet.
The Lakers and their fans were counting on Wood to give them instant offense off the bench this season, but he has failed to do so.
