There was lots to dislike about the Lakers’ performance in Game 4.
The offense looked stuck in mud. There was an alarming amount of turnovers and nearly all of them were live ball, which ruined any chance of a win. That will be discussed in the coming days on this site.
But I’d like to mention that god awful officiating. And not even in a sense of play-to-play calls or one player getting superstar calls or baiting officials. It was the big things that were just very dumb and bad.
First, Deandre Ayton
being ejected was one of the crazier refereeing decisions I’ve seen this year. It was pretty clear what happened in that play with Ayton trying to brace himself and his arm slipped up Alperen Şengün’s back and into his head. It looked bad, but in the modern NBA, basically everyone agreed that it was a Flagrant 1.
Except James Williams, who threw Ayton out of the game for a Flagrant 2 foul. It was a decision that includes ignoring a large amount of context of the situation to come to that conclusion.
Then, he watched Marcus Smart get Draymond Green-ed and determined the kick was actually more to his thigh, so it’s fine? I’m sure if he had talked to Marcus, his high-pitched voice would have told him it wasn’t to his thigh.
He capped off his wonderful night by throwing out Adou Thiero and Aaron Holiday in the final minutes because he needed to make sure everyone knew he was the star of the show. Thiero and Holiday were getting a little chippy under the basket, but it was Holiday entirely being the aggressor. It was a textbook away-from-the-play foul. In no scenario did that warrant an ejection.
The NBA has an officiating problem that badly needs addressed.
Anyway, 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, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 8 turnovers, 2 fouls, 2-9 FG, 0-3 3PT, 6-6 FT, -18
This is up there with one of the worst games LeBron’s played as a Laker. The context of him being 41 years old coming up against a young, desperate Rockets side trying to avoid a sweep should be taken into account, but he was really, really bad.
Grade: F
Rui Hachimura
30 minutes, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-10 FG, 1-2 3PT, -18
Rui had a pretty decent night offensively, but Houston and Amen Thompson were able to exploit his lack of foot speed defensively. Amen is in a good rhythm the last two games and the Lakers will need to adapt.
Grade: B
Deandre Ayton
25 minutes, 19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 9-12 FG, 1-1 FT, -19
Ayton is the only one who can really come away from this one with his head held high. He had a pretty egregious turnover to end the first quarter but he also looked like the only way who gave a damn before his ejection.
Grade: A
Marcus Smart
31 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-8 FG, 0-2 3PT, 3-3 FT, -20
While Smart had some ugly turnovers — including replicating his early-season faux pas by not stepping out of bounds to inbound the ball — and a couple of plays that made it look like the minutes from Friday were catching up with him, he was also racing around the court as well. You can’t fault the effort. You can fault the execution.
Grade: C+
Luke Kennard
32 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 3-8 FG, 0-3 3PT, 1-1 FT, -13
While Luke had a couple of nice moments early in the game, overall, he came back down to Earth in the two games in Houston. He’s in an outsized role and being asked to do a lot, in his defense. Hopefully a return home will help him bounce back.
Grade: D
Jake LaRavia
16 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 2-5 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FT, -14
I get that LaRavia is another player in an outsized role, but, man, this has been a really brutal postseason for him. And this was his best game of the playoffs, too. His length and defense is keeping him in the rotation, but it’s getting hard to justify him getting many minutes.
Grade: D
Jaxson Hayes
15 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 4 fouls, 1-2 FG, 0-2 FT, -4
We went back to the version of Hayes that was jumping at pump fakes and committing some really bad fouls. This was a rough game. Again, role players tend to play better at home, so hopefully there’s a bounce back game coming.
Grade: F
Jarred Vanderbilt
14 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 4-6 FG, 0-1 3PT, 0-1 FT, -1
Vando’s stat line is a little bit of fool’s gold because most of his scoring came in garbage time. Seeing him moving around the baseline and in the paint was interesting, but it’s hard to use him that way with an actual center on the court.
Grade: C+
Bronny James
15 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 2-5 FG, 1-4 3PT, -1
This was easily the most comfortable Bronny looked this season. He did a great job being a connecting piece offensively in the first half. He attacked closeouts, found the open player and chased down loose balls. His second stint was warranted, even if it bled into garbage time.
Grade: B+
Adou Thiero, Dalton Knecht, Nick Smith Jr., Maxi Kleber
Nothing much from this group. Adou had a nice alley-oop finish and Knecht hit a three. But it all came in garbage time.
JJ Redick
Well, JJ, the ball is now in your court. After three wins, the Lakers are now the team that will have to make adjustments. The offense hasn’t looked good for six quarters now and that’s to speak nothing of the rampant turnover issues.
After scheming their way into big games for Kennard and Smart, the pair have been held in check the last couple of contests. The Lakers need them, so can JJ get them going again?
They’ll need to in order to finish off this series. Also, for the love of everything holy, stop having LaRavia bring the ball up the court.
Grade: C-
Sunday’s inactives: Austin Reaves, Luka Dončić
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
