There are many great things about having Luka Dončić on the Lakers — really, other teams should try having a Luka Dončić — but one of the best is his personal feud with the Clippers.
Dating back to the
playoff series in the bubble, Luka has gone out of his way to try to destroy the Clippers during his career. When he was in Dallas, that meant a couple of otherwise meaningless games per season. With the Lakers? It counts for a whole lot more.
In his career, he’s averaging 32.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game against the other LA team, not including Tuesday’s game. Of teams he’s played at least 10 times, the Clippers are the side he averages the most points against, a crazy feat considering he scored 73 points against the Hawks.
Luka has the killer mindset that, if you wrong him once, he will never forget and make it personal every time. And with the Lakers playing the Clippers at least four times each season, that means lots more games like Tuesday’s.
So, 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.
LeBron James
32 minutes, 25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 9-15 FG, 2-5 3PT, 5-6 FT, +18
This felt a lot more like a traditional LeBron game than Sunday against the Jazz. Specifically, that pull-up 3-pointer in transition in the first half really felt like a marker that he’s gaining more of a rhythm.
LeBron called last week his training camp after missing it during the preseason, so ideally, there will be gradual improvements as he plays more. Getting back to a more normal schedule, rather than four days off last week, should help, too.
Having said all that, I did get a bit worried with that awkward landing on his layup late in the game. Fortunately, he looked fine after.
Grade: A-
Rui Hachimura
31 minutes, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-9 FG, 1-2 3PT, +3
Rui had a pretty quiet, if still efficient, game in this one. He’s gotten off to quicker starts in recent games before fading as the game goes along. Both he and the coaching staff will hopefully find ways to keep him engaged offensively.
Grade: B
Jaxson Hayes
30 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 3-4 FG, 2-2 FT, +21
I’m pretty sure no one is going to remember anything about this game from Hayes other than having Luka’s back. It’s one of those things that the coaching staff doesn’t necessarily encourage and it’s more unspoken, but you appreciate seeing it when it happens. And Luka has him covered, too.
Grade: B
Austin Reaves
35 minutes, 31 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 11-16 FG, 2-4 3PT, 7-7 FT, +19
The Lakers really pulled away in the fourth quarter with Austin at the center of that. Eighteen of his points came in that final period.
Tonight was an example of how teams just kind of run out of options defending the Lakers. Austin is going to likely get a team’s third-best perimeter defender and he will torch those players, as he did on Tuesday.
Grade: A+
Luka Dončić
38 minutes, 43 points, 9 rebounds, 13 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls, 14-28 FG, 7-12 3PT, 8-11 FT, +9
Both Luka and Austin are due some serious positive regression on 3-point shooting and it seemed like Luka’s started on Tuesday. There was a point in the first quarter where I wondered if he would ever miss a three again.
The Clippers choosing to defend Luka with Harden, at least early, was a choice. However, it didn’t really matter who they put on him because he was going to beat them. Their only path for slowing him down was late cheap shots and attempted fights.
Grade: A+
Marcus Smart
20 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 3-5 FG, 1-1 3PT, +2
This is the type of game you love having Marcus Smart for as he came in and just bugged Harden all night. He was called for some fouls — two of those very questionable — but that comes with the physical defense he plays. It’ll wear guys down and, sure enough, Harden only attempted three shots in the fourth quarter.
Grade: B+
Maxi Kleber
14 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 fouls, 1-3 FG, 0-1 3PT, -7
Kleber is never really going to fill up the box score even on his best nights. He wasn’t quite as impactful as he was against Utah, but he still had a perfectly fine game, which is great for what is ultimately the team’s third-string center.
Grade: B
Jake LaRavia
17 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 foul, 2-2 FG, +7
The numbers might not bear it out because Kawhi Leonard is who he is, but I thought LaRavia held his own defensively on that end, which was encouraging. If he can at least hang defensively with good wings, then he’ll have lots of value in big games.
Grade: B
Gabe Vincent
18 minutes, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 0-2 FG, 0-2 3PT, +17
Look, one-game plus-minus stats can be very deceiving and aren’t always a great measure of how impactful a player was. This is a picture-perfect example.
Vincent had some wild moments and, overall, I didn’t think it was a great game from him. I wouldn’t mind giving at least some of his minutes to someone else to see if they can make an impact, like maybe Adou Thiero.
Grade: C+
Adou Thiero, Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, Drew Timme
The garbage time group in this one. The only basket from them came from Drew Timme, who is a freshly signed two-way forward.
JJ Redick
Allow me to use this space to comment on the officiating and their reviews on Tuesday. Redick did well to challenge when he did, but the officials genuinely seemed to get every call wrong. They deserve some blame for the tensions in the game escalating to the point that there was an ejection.
As for the game itself, JJ is pushing all the right buttons and this team is really flowing offensively.
Grade: A-
Tuesday’s DNPs: Jarred Vanderbilt
Tuesday’s inactives: Chris Mañon, Deandre Ayton, Nick Smith Jr.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on BlueSky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
