The Los Angeles Lakers started a four-game road trip on Saturday against the Orlando Magic, looking to improve their 3-2 record and build momentum.
Instead, they succumbed to the same problems that have been plaguing them to start the season: slow starts and poor defensive rebounding. The first half was an embarrassment for the Lakers: They committed 11 turnovers, gave up 67 points and trailed by 16 points at halftime. As has been the case in just about every game so far this season, their perimeter defense was weak — the Magic shot 7-of-15 from 3-point range in the first half — and they couldn’t control their defensive boards. Los Angeles was outrebounded, 27-14, and gave up a whopping 26 second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds in the first half.
The situation grew even worse in the second half for L.A. It trailed by as many as 25 points, and although it made a modest mini-run to come to within 13 in the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer by Cole Anthony with 4:05 left ended its faint hope of making a real extended run.
The Lakers fell to the young Magic, 120-101, and are 3-3 on the season. They head southeast to play the Miami Heat, the defending Eastern Conference champions, on Monday.
Anthony Davis: B-plus
In some ways, Davis played his usual dominant game. He shot 10-of-15 from the field and made all eight of his free throws to score 28 points. He also grabbed 13 rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass. The superstar big man also blocked seven shots, and he may have been the only member of the Lakers to make a noticeable impact on the defensive end.
But when he wasn’t blocking shots, Davis was often getting schooled by Paolo Banchero, the reigning Rookie of the Year who had 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, seven boards and 10 assists.
Davis spent a good portion of this game in foul trouble. He picked up his third foul late in the second quarter and his fourth foul very early in the third period, which may have been one factor in his inability to contain Banchero.
Cam Reddish: D
After Reddish played excellent defense in Wednesday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers, he made almost no positive impact in this game. He struggled offensively, making just one of his five shots.
Reddish got the start at small forward once again because Taurean Prince, who had been starting at the 3, was out for a second straight game due to a knee ailment.
D'Angelo Russell: D
After two great outings, Russell was very much off with his shot on Saturday. He shot 4-of-17 overall and 1-of-10 from 3-point range, and he managed just 11 points plus four rebounds and four assists.
It’s starting to look like perhaps he may be a barometer player for L.A. When he has played well to start this season, the team has won. When he hasn’t shot well, the results have been different.
Austin Reaves: A/A-minus
Reaves started to get things going in the second half of Wednesday’s game after struggling prior to that to start the season. That improved play continued on Saturday against Orlando.
He shot 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range, giving him 20 points plus two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 34 minutes. He looked a lot like the Reaves who emerged last season and consistently grew and improved as the year went on.
LeBron James: B/B-plus
Sticking to the script that has emerged to start the season, James didn’t assert himself much in the first half, as he shot 3-of-5 during that time period. As the Lakers looked to give themselves a shot at winning in the fourth quarter, he turned his play up by starting to attack the basket, but it was too little, too late.
He finished with 24 points on 8-of-15 overall shooting and 2-of-5 from 3-point range, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. He played 35 minutes, which was a little too much, but he may be able to get away with it this early in the schedule.
Christian Wood: C/C-plus
Wood did some good things on the defensive end at times by blocking two shots and getting one steal. Even though he shot 2-of-5 from downtown, he failed to give Los Angeles much offensive punch or help otherwise. He scored six points and grabbed two rebounds in 29 minutes.
Max Christie: B/B-minus
With Prince, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent out again, Christie was on the court for 23 minutes. He made a decent effort, hitting 3-of-7 from the field to score six points while grabbing five rebounds.
Jaxson Hayes: C
In 11 minutes, Hayes shot 1-of-4 and had one rebound and one blocked shot. The Lakers need more production from Hayes on the boards, especially given their massive problems on their defensive backboards.
Maxwell Lewis, Alex Fudge, Colin Castleton, D'Moi Hodge: Incomplete
All four rookies received four minutes of playing time apiece in garbage time. Castleton got one rebound and scored a bucket off an assist from Lewis, but other than that, none of them made any positive contributions on the stat sheet.
