The Los Angeles Lakers concluded their four-game road trip on Thursday with a contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite the Thunder’s success to start the season, the Lakers were hoping for a win in order to finish with a 3-1 record on this trip.
Early on, things looked good for them. They jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter, but that lead evaporated amidst a Thunder run that gave the home team a lead with 7:33 left in the second quarter. The Thunder made it rain afterward, as they scored 42 points in the period by getting out on the fast break off L.A.’s misses and miscues, and they led 72-60 at halftime.
Los Angeles had trouble with the Thunder’s zone defense, and it was never able to make things competitive afterward, as it ended up losing 133-110.
With an 11-9 record, the Purple and Gold are holding on to the edge of the playoff picture in the Western Conference. They will return home to host the Houston Rockets, who are currently 8-8, on Saturday evening.
Anthony Davis: A
Davis went right at Oklahoma City standout rookie Chet Holmgren from the start and looked to attack him and bully him in the paint. The Lakers big man scored 15 points in the first quarter on 6-of-8 shooting, but afterward, the Thunder made adjustments by going to a zone defense and, at times, fronting Davis. As a result, L.A. had a harder time getting the ball into him as the game went on, but he still finished with 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting and 9-of-10 from the free throw line plus 14 rebounds.
While Holmgren didn’t have a huge game offensively, Davis didn’t record a single blocked shot on Thursday, making only the second such contest for him this season. He came into Thursday leading the NBA in blocked shots per game.
Taurean Prince: C-plus
Prince made his first two 3-point attempts of the game, but he missed his next three, and overall, he shot just 2-of-7 from the field. He finished with six points, two assists and one rebound.
Although he shot 40% from downtown in this game, he is falling well short of his stated goal to shoot that percentage from that distance for the entire season.
Max Christie: B-minus
Christie went 3-of-7 overall and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc to score eight points while adding two steals and one blocked shot. With Cam Reddish ailing (he has missed four of the team’s last five games), he is getting valuable experience, and he’s starting to prove he can be a decent contributor on both ends of the floor.
D'Angelo Russell: B-plus
Russell may be starting to get into a groove with his shooting and overall offense. After scoring 35 points on white-hot shooting on Wednesday, he scored 16 points while being reasonably efficient against the Thunder.
One of Russell’s biggest assets to the Lakers is his playmaking ability combined with his ball security. On Thursday he dished off 10 assists against just two turnovers.
LeBron James: B-minus
James continues to be very efficient. He shot 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point land to score 21 points, and he also added 12 rebounds and six assists. However, he had five turnovers, which was more than anyone else on the floor had in this contest.
At times this season, James had made lazy or even flashy passes that tend to result in turnovers. Late in Thursday’s game, he also appeared to be tired at one point before he came out of the game for good after logging 35 minutes. Sooner or later, head coach Darvin Ham will have to get the 38-year-old’s minutes down to a manageable level.
Christian Wood: D
Wood continues to struggle offensively. He shot just 1-of-6 on Thursday, and although he did manage to collect seven free throw attempts, he scored only seven points in 21 minutes.
The Lakers need to do a better job of directly involving him in their set offense, whether that means running pick-and-rolls with him or posting him up more often.
Austin Reaves: B-minus
Overall, Reaves didn’t have a bad game, as he went 5-of-9 and scored 14 points in 29 minutes. But he doesn’t seem to be having the same impact he had last season when he was such a key spark plug for L.A.
The Lakers bench in general has had trouble manufacturing points lately. Surely, some of that is because they have been short-handed again, but Reaves and Wood, as well as Rui Hachimura, who is currently out with a nasal fracture, need to play up to their capabilities.
Jalen Hood-Schifino: D
Hood-Schifino came into the game to start the second quarter, perhaps because of the Lakers’ lack of depth. He shot just 1-of-6 and finished with three points and one rebound.
It’s clear he’s not ready to contribute in a meaningful way, but Ham still needs to find slivers of playing time for him so that he can go through the struggles he must experience before he can become a decent player.
Maxwell Lewis, Alex Fudge, Colin Castleton, D'Moi Hodge: Incomplete
All four rookies got three minutes on the court during garbage time. None of them hit a single shot, although Fudge and Castleton each made two free throws, while Castleton also took down three rebounds and blocked a shot.
