Facing the Brooklyn Nets without LeBron James on Sunday, it looked like there was a good chance the Los Angeles Lakers would lose their sixth game in a row.
Instead, L.A. put forth arguably its best overall effort of the season and improved to 3-10 with a 116-103 win over Kevin Durant and company.
The Purple and Gold rode the coattails of Anthony Davis, who stepped up big time without James. Although the Nets had won five of their previous seven, they went strangely cold at Crypto.com Arena.
Third quarters have been a weakness for the Lakers this season, and that was the case again on Sunday. They had a nine-point lead at halftime, but it was trimmed to three at the end of the third quarter.
However, Los Angeles went on a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to put things out of reach for the visiting Nets.
Anthony Davis: A-plus
This was undoubtedly Davis’ best game of the season so far. He erupted for 37 points on 15-of-25 shooting while making all seven of his free throws and collecting 18 rebounds, and Brooklyn simply had no answers for him.
He had been coming out cold in the second halves of games, but in this contest, he kept pouring it on every minute he was on the floor, and his sustained onslaught allowed the Lakers to maintain and stretch their lead.
Troy Brown Jr.: B
Brown had a somewhat quiet night, but he connected on 4-of-7 shots from the field and 1-of-2 from 3-point range to finish with nine points, four rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Patrick Beverley: C-plus
Beverley went 1-of-5 from the floor, and his outside shooting woes continued. He missed all four of his 3-pointers.
Defensively, he found himself guarding Durant a lot, and he couldn’t do much to slow down the two-time NBA Finals MVP. Durant finished with 31 points while shooting 50 percent from the field and making 13-of-15 from the free throw line.
On the bright side, Beverley did grab four rebounds and contribute five assists and one blocked shot. He also drew a charging foul in the first quarter.
Austin Reaves: A-minus
Reaves went 5-of-8 overall while hitting an impressive 3-of-4 from downtown. He added three assists and committed just one turnover.
He still has some growth to do in terms of individual defense, but he seems to be a decent team defender thanks to his strong instinctual feel for the game.
Lonnie Walker IV: A
The Lakers’ signing of Walker using their taxpayer mid-level exception looked questionable during the summer, but his stock is rising quickly.
He scored 25 points on Sunday by hitting 9-of-15 shots overall and a red-hot 4-of-5 from deep. Los Angeles needed him to step up these last two games without James, and he has answered the call.
Russell Westbrook: C-minus
After playing so well in his first several games off the bench, Westbrook has cooled off, and he was simply ice cold on Sunday.
He shot just 4-of-15 overall and 1-of-6 from 3-point land, and it remains to be seen whether these last two or three games of poor shooting are a sign of things to come or merely a brief blip on the radar.
Westbrook, however, helped the Lakers’ cause with six rebounds, 12 assists and one blocked shot. Even his harshest critics have to admit he’s been doing a great job of setting the table for his teammates lately.
He also served up the highlight play of the game with his gigantic dunk in the third quarter.
Russ attacks the rim with attitude. 😤 pic.twitter.com/1IDPRR1JqF
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 14, 2022
Wenyen Gabriel: B
Gabriel did not grab a single rebound in 14 minutes, but he did very well offensively, hitting 4-of-7 shots. He is active in the paint in terms of moving without the ball and getting ready to catch passes and attempt bunnies at or near the rim.
He also hit his first 3-pointer of the season, which was a welcome sight, especially considering how bad the Lakers have been in that department as a whole.
Overall, L.A. shot 40.7% from beyond the arc on Sunday. It may not be easy to notice, but its 3-point shooting has been trending upward in recent days.
Max Christie: B
Once again, Christie received significant playing time: 21 minutes to be exact. He only attempted one shot, which he missed, but he snatched nine rebounds, all on the defensive boards.
Rebounding has been something of a weakness for the Lakers dating to last season, but they outplayed Brooklyn in that department, outrebounding it 45-41.
Kendrick Nunn: D-minus
Nunn seems totally out of rhythm, and at least some of it may be because he has been played inconsistently by head coach Darvin Ham. He seems to have almost fallen out of Ham’s rotation, and he is paying the price offensively.
The guard missed all four of his shot tonight and went scoreless in 11 minutes. His only contributions were one rebound and two assists.
Matt Ryan, Juan Toscano-Anderson: Incomplete
Both Ryan and Toscano-Anderson came in during garbage time for six and two minutes, respectively. Both hit one basket apiece, with Ryan’s made field goal being a 3-pointer.
