Lakers player grades: L.A. competes hard but falls short to 76ers
With LeBron James and Anthony Davis back in the lineup on Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers looked to get back on track versus the Philadelphia 76ers.
Early on, L.A. had trouble with its shooting and fell behind 33-20 early in the second quarter. But it responded by making 13 shots in a row, making the score 61-59 at halftime in favor of Philly.
When the 76ers built a double-digit lead in the third quarter and extended it to 102-84 with 10:09 left in the fourth quarter, it looked like it was lights out for the Lakers. But they made a furious run down the stretch, as the Sixers committed some embarrassing turnovers and miscues, allowing James and company to force overtime tied at 120.
But the Lakers ran out of gas there, as they gave up the first 12 points of the extra period to Philly and had trouble converting layups near the rim.
The 133-122 loss drops the Lakers to 10-15 on the season and 2-3 on their current six-game road trip.
Anthony Davis: A
Davis was somewhat quiet for most of the first three quarters, and much of it was due to him being in foul trouble. But when the Lakers made their rally down the stretch, he came on strong and looked like the Davis that had been tearing things up prior to coming down with flu-like symptoms on Tuesday.
He finished with 31 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 13-of-14 from the free throw line, along with 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.
Unfortunately, Davis missed what would’ve been the game-winning free throw with 3.1 seconds remaining in regulation.
LeBron James: C+
James was just 9-of-22 from the field, and for whatever reason, he didn’t often take his man off the dribble and look to attack the basket from the top of the floor. He instead settled for lots of 3-pointers, and it wasn’t an effective strategy, as he missed all but one of his eight attempts from downtown.
He finished with 23 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Patrick Beverley: B+
After sitting out the Lakers’ last game because of right knee soreness, Beverley had one of his few effective offensive performances this season on Friday. He made all four of his shot attempts, which included a 3-pointer, giving him nine points plus three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
Dennis Schroder: C
Schroder took just five shots in 21 minutes, making two of them while dishing off four assists. It was a quiet game from him when perhaps L.A. could’ve used more from him offensively.
Lonnie Walker IV: A-
After two poor outings, Walker bounced back nicely by going 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to score 15 points in 33 minutes. He also added three rebounds and one block.
Troy Brown Jr.: F
Brown played nine minutes and almost literally did nothing. He didn’t score a single point, as he missed all three of his shot attempts, and he made no positive contributions on the stat sheet.
Thomas Bryant: B-
For some reason, when Davis was out of the game with foul trouble, Bryant only got six minutes of playing time, as Lakers head coach Darvin Ham often elected to go small and play James at the 5.
Bryant made his only shot attempt and also grabbed one rebound in his limited court time.
Russell Westbrook: B
Westbrook shot just 4-of-14 and 1-of-5 from 3-point range, but other than that, he made a major impact. He recorded a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, which is a rare feat for a bench player, while also coming up with four steals.
He may be becoming the rare player who can be a positive asset even when he isn’t shooting well, which is an odd but very fortunate development given his problems with turnovers and shooting efficiency last season.
Austin Reaves: A+
Reaves gave the 76ers 99 problems in this contest. He made 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, and when he wasn’t making it rain from the outside, he was driving to the basket and not shying away from contact.
His effort, intelligence and chutzpah resulted in him going 9-of-15 overall from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line to score 25 points in 41 minutes. The undrafted second-year man also contributed five assists, two rebounds and two steals.
