The beauty and frustration of opening night in the NBA season is that months and months of anticipation leads to a game that, in the grand scheme of things, matters no more in an 82-game season than a mid-January
matchup even if it feels so much bigger.
All eyes were on the Lakers as part of the first two games of the 2025-26 season as they promptly laid a big egg, Luka Dončić excluded. The new face of the Lakers could hardly have been better while his teammates could largely have hardly looked worse.
In many ways, it was the Lakers fans have come to expect in recent years. After going into the locker room down just one point, they promptly gave up a 16-4 run in the opening five minutes and were outscored by 10 in the period.
Then they followed that up with a rally in the fourth that is fooling fewer and fewer fans as the games pass before ultimately falling. It’s become a very predictable formula.
So much for new season, new Lakers.
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.
Austin Reaves
36 minutes, 26 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers, 5 fouls, 9-16 FG, 1-5 3PT, 7-10 FT, -14
From a box-score watching perspective, Reaves looks to have had a solid game. However, I think most people who watched the game were underwhelmed by his performance.
Before a layup with 9:25 left in the fourth, Reaves had 13 points, then was at the head of the team’s unsuccessful comeback attempt. This isn’t the first time he’s been quiet for most of the game then been part of a late rally that falls short.
If Reaves wants superstar money next summer, he needs to play like a superstar before the team is down by double digits and he’s in foul trouble on the bench.
Grade: D+
Rui Hachimura
35 minutes, 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 3-6 FG, 3-6 3PT, -6
Rui hit two threes late in the first half to give the Lakers a brief lead, but had just one made shot outside of that. Rui is prone to these games and, like Austin, if he wants another big pay day in free agency, these kinds of games have to go away.
Grade: F
Deandre Ayton
34 minutes, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-7 FG, 0-2 FT, -4
So much for that walking the walk to back up the talk. This game featured lots of the bad habits Ayton has had throughout his career. He didn’t rebound well. He wasn’t aggressive enough offensively. He didn’t have much of a rhythm with Luka.
Even if he was alright in space defensively against a Warriors team that spread him out, this is far, far from acceptable.
Grade: D
Gabe Vincent
29 minutes, 3 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 fouls, 1-4 FG, 1-4 3PT, -5
Well, that should be the first and last game Vincent starts. The argument for starting him hinged on two things: his shooting and his defense.
He made onfo his four threes attempted in nearly 30 minutes, so that didn’t work. And with the Lakers switching one through four, the Warriors hunted him with Jimmy Butler off the ball and feasted on him, which isn’t strictly his fault.
But he didn’t play well either.
Grade: F
Marcus Smart
23 minutes, 9 points, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls, 3-6 FG, 0-3 3PT, 3-4 FT, +2
Is this what the Marcus Smart experience is going to be like this season? Because if so, then I’m going to need to quickly acclimate. His stat line does not adequately reflect how he was at the center of basically everything during his 23 minutes, particularly in the first half.
His second half was much less chaotic on both ends of the floor, but there’s just a baseline of frenziness when he’s on the floor.
That being said, he certainly provides energy and, again, if the Lakers are going to switch a lot, then you have to start him.
Grade: B+
Jake LaRavia
16 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 foul, 2-4 FG, 1-2 3PT, 0-2 FT, -5
A pretty poor first half gave way to a better second half. A fairly ho-hum game without much to it. You can see his value to the rotation, but the Lakers just need a bit more of everything.
Grade: C
Jaxson Hayes
14 minutes, 4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 2-3 FG, -6
Hayes is a known commodity at this point to Lakers fans. Honestly, six rebounds in 14 minutes for him is a great night. He also was arguably the best center for the Lakers tonight, too, which is more damning of Ayton than a praise of Hayes.
Grade: B+
Jarred Vanderbilt
12 minutes, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 0-4 FG, 0-2 3PT, -4
Well, that’s a pretty deflating start to the season for Vando. While again noting this is one game, Vando looked brutal offensively. Between the preseason and Tuesday’s game, there is zero evidence to believe his 3-point shot has improved.
Add in losing the ball on a drive and failing to finish around the rim and it was all the bad from Vando with very few positives.
Grade: F
JJ Redick
Redick is taking a lot of blame in this one.
First, the decision to start Vincent failed pretty spectacularly. The Warriors hunted him with Butler all game long, which was pretty predictable.
Secondly, while the Lakers prioritizing player health in the preseason is fine, the pendulum has swung too far in that direction and the team did not get enough reps together. Tonight, that led to them looking utterly lost offensively far too often with Luka bailing them out.
If not for him converting on some wild shots and creating baskets himself, this would have been a brutal night on that end.
Grade: F
Tuesday’s DNPs: Bronny James, Dalton Knecht, Christian Koloko
Tuesday’s inactives: LeBron James, Maxi Kleber, Nick Smith Jr., Adou Thiero, Chris Manon
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
