Perhaps head coach JJ Redick’s pregame speech should be spent convincing the team that every game is actually the second night of a back-to-back.
Bizarrely, the team’s last two wins came the night after blowout defeats. And each time, they looked great in those contests, responding with their own blowout wins. And the opponent both time was good.
What an oddity.
The good or bad news, depending on how you look at it, is the Lakers don’t have a back-to-back again until March. Maybe that’ll be the next
win.
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, 24 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, 3 fouls, 9-17 FG, 2-4 3PT, 4-4 FT, +18
Shoutout to LeBron, who played all five games across this seven-day stretch. Now, let’s have him stop trying to dunk on people like it’s 2016 and not 2026.
Grade: B+
Jake LaRavia
19 minutes, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1-5 FG, 0-4 3PT, -6
A pretty meh performance from LaRavia, who scored four points on 1-7 shooting over this back-to-back.
Grade: D-
Deandre Ayton
33 minutes, 25 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 fouls, 10-10 FG, 5-6 FT, +20
Have yourself a historic night, DA. Take just about any combination of his points, rebounds, lack of turnovers and perfect shooting and you’ll find some version of an incredible stat.
Grade: A+
Marcus Smart
25 minutes, 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers, 3 fouls, 3-6 FG, 2-3 3PT, +12
On a team with Luka and LeBron, somehow, Marcus Smart came up with the assist of the season.
Grade: B+
Luka Dončić
34 minutes, 25 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls, 8-23 FG, 5-12 3PT, 4-5 FT, -3
It’s really kind of impressive Luka didn’t get tossed. Once he gets a technical, he really doesn’t tone things down. It feels like he’s due and if it happens, he’ll deserve the backlash he gets.
Grade: B–
Gabe Vincent
17 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 foul, 2-5 FG, 1-3 3PT, +0
Gabe made a two-point shot as part of the run in the second quarter that gave the Lakers the lead. That is about all I remember from this performance.
Grade: C+
Jaxson Hayes
13 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-1 FG, 1-2 FT, -2
It’s interesting if Hayes was on a minutes restriction or if his playing time was more directly impacted by Drew Timme’s extended minutes.
Grade: B
Rui Hachimura
21 minutes, 10 points, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 4-10 FG, 2-6 3PT, +8
As the game went on, Rui really seemed to find his jumper again. Plus, his minutes restriction was lifted a bit, an encouraging sign of his progress.
Grade: B+
Jarred Vanderbilt
21 minutes, 2 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 foul, 1-1 FG, +25
This is a game where the box score doesn’t tell the whole story of his impact, though his plus-minus goes some way in doing that. Plus, the one field goal he scored included a nasty in-and-out dribble in the open court.
Grade: A
Drew Timme
17 points, 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1-4 FG, 1-2 3PT, +17
Timme earned minutes with his play on Saturday and made good on them on Sunday. I have reservations about the viability of the Smart-LeBron-Vando-Timme-Ayton lineup he was part of, but it certainly worked well on Sunday.
Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, Nick Smith Jr., Kobe Bufkin
Nothing much from this group tonight, who got in for the final two minutes of the game.
JJ Redick
An interesting wrinkle with not only playing Timme, but doing so in a jumbo lineup. He not only played alongside a center, but as part of a lineup that had LeBron or Vando as the nominal shooting guard. Just an enormous lineup that worked incredibly well.
Grade: A-
Monday’s DNPs: Maxi Kleber
Monday’s inactives: Austin Reaves, Adou Thiero, Chris Mañon
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
