Player Grades: Lakers vs. Hornets

SB Nation

The Lakers have suffered this specific type of loss a half-dozen times at this point in the season.

A team with athletic wings and some outside shooting torches them defensively and the team can’t keep

up on the other end, resulting in a blowout loss. The really frustrating part is that it just happened on Sunday, so the hope would be that the team would have a little bit of shame and ensure it didn’t happen again within the same week.

Alas, this is an unserious team.

So, let’s dive into the loss. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

LeBron James

33 minutes, 29 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 10-19 FG, 3-6 3PT, 6-7 FT, -7

Outside of his inability to dribble the ball at times on the night, resulting in his three turnovers, it was about all you could ask from a 41-year-old playing his third game in four nights.

Grade: A-

Jake LaRavia

37 minutes, 18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 5-10 FG, 3-4 3PT, 5-5 FT, -6

I was really tempted to give everyone an F tonight because I hadn’t gone to that bit in a while. However, there were just enough good performances that it would have felt a bit too much and LaRavia was one of them.

Grade: B+

Deandre Ayton

32 minutes, 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 6-10 FG, -4

Ayton, however, was not one of them. He’s given a fool’s errand of trying to cover for this team defensively so I won’t fault him too much there. But six rebounds against this team is unacceptable.

Grade: C+

Marcus Smart

32 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 fouls, 3-9 FG, 1-5 3PT, 3-4 FT, -1

Only once in the last five games has Smart shot above 33.3% from the field. It’s not been in ideal circumstances, but he’s not exactly made a great case to remain in the starting lineup when Austin Reaves returns.

Grade: D

Luka Dončić

36 minutes, 39 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 15-26 FG, 6-11 3PT, 3-7 FT, -13

For the second time in a blowout loss this week, the question I left the game with was “Where would this team have been without Luka?”

Grade: A+

Gabe Vincent

15 minutes, 1 rebound, 4 fouls, 0-7 FG, 0-5 3PT, -15

Gabe had played well in recent games before this, so it was a bit harsh when his missed three led to boos from the fans in attendance. The team deserved them, though.

Grade: F

Rui Hachimura

18 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-4 FG, 1-4 3PT, -17

He’ll get a pass since he just returned from injury, but this was a pretty bad game from him.

Grade: D

Jarred Vanderbilt

15 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3-4 FG, 0-1 3PT, -12

The non-center minutes, which predominantly featured Vando playing as the nominal center, were really bad in this game.

Grade: C-

Kobe Bufkin

17 minutes, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, -7

Bufkin deserved the minutes he got in place of Dalton Knecht and Nick Smith Jr., but he wasn’t good in them. He still deserves another run or two, though, because Knecht and NSJ aren’t giving anything either.

Grade: F