Player Grades: Lakers vs. Spurs

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 107-91 loss to the Spurs.

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

With the Lakers facing the Spurs without Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, or LeBron James, they had the odds stacked against them from the jump in this contest on Wednesday night.

Luka Dončić put on the Superman cape and had a triple-double, but no one else stepped up offensively, and the Lakers never stood much of a chance against the Spurs.

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.

Luka Dončić

38 minutes,

38 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 7 turnovers, 3 fouls, 13-26 FG, 2-9 3PT, 10-16 FT, -7

Luka had an impressive 38-point, 10-assist, 10-rebound performance. He did everything he could to keep LA in this game.

Unfortunately, no one else matched Luka’s energy on the offensive side, so LA struggled putting points on the board all night long.

Grade: A-

Deandre Ayton

29 minutes, 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-9 FG, 1-2 FT, -9

Ayton’s impact in this game was non-existent. He didn’t establish himself inside and was unable to slow down any of the Spurs’ bigs.

This isn’t the first time Ayton has struggled this year against the San Antonio frontcourt. Hopefully, he performs better against the Spurs when they meet again in February.

Grade: D

Jake LaRavia

39 minutes, 16 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-13 FG, 4-9 3PT, -13

LaRavia was one of the few Lakers who made a positive offensive contribution in this game. However, most of it came later in the game. He went scoreless in the opening period and had just two points in the third.

During the fourth quarter, he had some baskets that gave LA a glimmer of hope that they could come back. LaRavia was also very active defensively, which has been part of the positive impact he’s been making on this team as of late.

Grade: C-

Jarred Vanderbilt

19 minutes, 4 points, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 2-6 FG, 0-3 3PT, 0

This was not a good game for Vando. He quickly got two fouls and had to sit early despite getting the start. Offensively, he provided little to nothing, and defensively, there weren’t many plays that stood out.

Grade: D-

Marcus Smart

34 minutes, 2 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 4 turnovers, 3 fouls, 1-6 FG, 0-3 3PT, -12

Add Smart to the list of players who were disappointing in this game. He spent more time flopping around than he did making winning plays.

With Smart, you take the good with the bad, but in San Antonio, there was no good available.

Grade: F

Gabe Vincent

18 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 fouls, 2-8 FG, 2-7 3PT, -10

The good news is that Vincent came back after missing nine games. However, he didn’t look that great in his return. Lakers head coach JJ Redick said he’d be limited to 18 minutes, and he played every second of them.

Which is kind of puzzling, given how poorly he played. We’ll see how he looks moving forward, once he gets into playing shape. Right now, though, it looked like he should’ve played less.

Grade: D-

Jaxson Hayes

18 minutes, 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 fouls, 4-4 FG, 2-2 FT, -7

Hayes did his job in this one. He ran the floor and finished strong at the rim. He was perfect from the field and one of three Lakers to score in double figures.

Grade: A-

Dalton Knecht

19 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 1-6 FG, 0-5 3PT, -15

Knecht had a nice charge against the Pelicans and he repeated that trend with another charge in this game. After that, though, not much positive to take away from Knecht’s performance. I did like that he stayed aggressive shooting, but the ball just didn’t go in.

Grade: D-

Maxi Kleber

12 minutes, 1 point, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 0-3 FG, 0-1 FT, -3

No more Kleber minutes if Ayton and Hayes are healthy.

Grade: F

Nick Smith Jr.

10 minutes, 3 points, 1 assist, 1-4 FG, 1-2 3PT, -4

Smith Jr. hasn’t had a good game in a while. He is an offensive-based player, and if he’s not scoring, there is no reason for the two-way guard to be logging minutes.

Grade: F