Basketball is such a funny game.
On Monday, the Lakers were presented 19 open threes and 16 wide open threes, as defined by NBA’s tracking data. They went 7-35 on those shots, or just 20%.
On Tuesday, Jake LaRavia is hitting shots while falling out of bounds as the team goes 19-34 from three in a blowout win.
It’s never fun to hear a coach say that a team missed open shots in a loss, but sometimes things do boil down to it being a make or miss league. On Monday, the Lakers missed a lot of makeable shots and
the Kings had an uncharacteristically good shooting night. Twenty-four hours later, the Hawks missed a lot of makeable shots and the Lakers had the hot shooting performance.
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
33 minutes, 31 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 1 foul, 12-20 FG, 2-4 3PT, 5-6 FT, +17
It was a nice surprise to see LeBron play in his first back-to-back of the season. He looked no worse for the wear, either, putting up a strong showing.
There was a lull in the third quarter for the team in which Luka and LeBron felt like they were in the center of, but LeBron also helped put the game to rest with a big corner three to kick start a final run in the fourth.
Grade: A
Jake LaRavia
36 minutes, 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 6-10 FG, 3-4 3PT, 2-2 FT, +13
The Lakers’ role players nearly universally had nice bounceback games after dismal performances on Monday. LaRavia knocked down his open shots, including a circus 3-pointer that makes you really wonder how he — and the team — missed so many open looks on Monday.
Grade: A-
Deandre Ayton
31 minutes, 17 points, 18 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 fouls, 7-9 FG, 3-3 FT, +31
Speaking of bounceback games, this was a much-needed performance from Ayton. He took full advantage of Atlanta not having much of an interior presence and had one of his best games in months.
Grade: A
Marcus Smart
29 minutes, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 3 fouls, 4-5 FG, 2-3 3PT, 6-6 FT, +32
After taking two more charges on Tuesday, Smart now leads the league in charges drawn, passing his teammate Austin Reaves, who leads the league in charges drawn per game.
Grade: A-
Luka Dončić
33 minutes, 27 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 block, 7 turnovers, 4 fouls, 7-16 FG, 5-9 3PT, 8-10 FT, +27
Luka was scorching in the first half, going 5-6 from three and scoring 23 points. Then, he had an uncharacteristically awful second half and had a big hand in the Hawks’ comeback.
Grade: B+
Rui Hachimura
18 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds, 3-7 FG, 1-3 3PT, -1
A welcome sight was seeing Rui back in action on Tuesday. He was on a pretty low minutes restriction but still looked solid in the time he was on the court.
Grade: B
Gabe Vincent
14 minutes, 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 foul, 3-6 FG, 3-5 3PT, 1-1 FT, +8
Vincent had one of his best shooting halves of the season, hitting a trio of threes in the opening two frames.
Grade: A-
Dalton Knecht
15 minutes, 2 points, 2 fouls, 1-3 FG, 0-2 3PT, +4
I have nothing left to say about Knecht that hasn’t already been said.
Grade: F
Drew Timme, Kobe Bufkin, Nick Smith Jr., Bronny James
The only surprise from the bench group is that newly-signed Bufkin didn’t play earlier. I think that might change given his brief cameo and Knecht’s continued struggles.
JJ Redick
Good job from Redick for telling his team to hit 55% of their threes in this one. The question why doesn’t he do this more often.
Grade: B+
Tuesday’s DNPs: Maxi Kleber
Tuesday’s inactives: Jaxson Hayes, Austin Reaves, Adou Thiero, Chris Manon
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
