The Los Angeles Lakers may be starting to heat up a bit.
Despite not having LeBron James for the fourth straight game, they managed to administer a beat down of the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, 123-92.
Los Angeles controlled this one from the start. It jumped to a 34-20 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Instead of getting complacent, it increased its advantage to 18 at halftime and 28 at the end of the third quarter.
This was all-around dominance from the Lakers, who shot 52.9% from the field and had 29 assists while holding San Antonio to just 39% field-goal shooting.
With three victories in a row, they now have their first true winning streak of the season and their first winning streak of at least three contests since early January of last season.
Anthony Davis: A-plus
For the third straight game, Davis was a monster, and the Spurs could do absolutely nothing about it.
He was dominant from the start on both ends of the floor, and he cruised to 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting, 18 rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot in just 28 minutes. That one block is deceiving, as he changed multiple shots, forcing them to come up well short.
Davis did most of his damage in the paint, as he devoured an undersized Spurs frontline that was missing starting center Jakob Poeltl.
The superstar big man is starting to resemble the player he was throughout the Lakers’ championship run three seasons ago.
Troy Brown Jr.: C-plus
This was a quiet game from the 23-year-old forward, as he attempted just four shots and made one of them. He did, however, help his team’s cause with seven rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes.
Patrick Beverley: B-minus
Beverley also had a quiet night, but one positive for him was he had zero turnovers after he had three on Friday. He shot 1-of-5 from the field, but he notched three assists.
Austin Reaves: A
Reaves seems to be growing as a player before everyone’s eyes.
On Sunday he went 7-of-11 overall and 3-of-4 from downtown and finished with 21 points, to go along with two rebounds and three assists. He looks more and more comfortable attacking the paint off the dribble and either going up for contested layups or hitting an open teammate.
Lonnie Walker IV: B-plus
What a find Walker has been for team executive Rob Pelinka.
The guard was a little less assertive versus the Spurs, but he still had 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and in his spare time he also had two dimes.
Consistency and efficiency have been the bones of contention for Walker since he came into the NBA four seasons ago, but so far this season, he has been solid in both those areas.
Russell Westbrook: B-plus
After four straight poor shooting games, Westbrook was pretty efficient on Sunday, going 4-of-9 overall and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc.
It wasn’t exactly a big scoring night for him: He had 10 points in 22 minutes, but he’s proving he can help the Lakers without scoring a lot of buckets. He dished out 10 assists and gave his teammates plenty of easy shots as a result.
Thomas Bryant: A-minus
In his second game back from a thumb injury, Bryant again made his presence felt.
He grabbed nine rebounds in 23 minutes while going 5-of-5 from the field to score 15 points. He does an admirable job of running the floor on the fast break and that effort gained him three transition buckets on Sunday.
The lone blemish on the stat sheet for Bryant was his 5-of-8 mark from the free-throw line, but that should improve somewhat as he gets into game shape and rhythm.
Dennis Schroder: A
Schroder was rusty and ineffective in his first game back from a thumb injury on Friday, but tonight he looked more like his old self.
He made 4-of-7 shots, including 1-of-2 from 3-point land, to finish with 13 points plus two assists and no turnovers in 23 minutes. He hit a couple of contested jumpers from the elbow off the dribble, which is something he has done regularly in the past.
Kendrick Nunn: A-minus
Nunn has been very inconsistent this year, but this was the second straight very efficient game. He was 4-of-8 overall and 3-of-6 from downtown, giving him 13 points, plus three boards and two assists in 21 minutes.
The one negative for Nunn was his four turnovers. It’s clear he’s not a true facilitating point guard. But it’s also clear he’s clearly an asset for the Lakers moving forward.
Wenyen Gabriel: B-minus
After some very nice offensive games lately, Gabriel was quiet tonight, as he took only one shot in 16 minutes. But he contributed five rebounds and even added one assist.
Matt Ryan: D-minus
The extended garbage time in this contest allowed Ryan to get six minutes of playing time toward the end. Unfortunately, he missed all four of his shot attempts and didn’t score a point, although he managed to get one rebound and one assist.
Damian Jones: B-minus
Jones got in four minutes during garbage time, and he sneaked in one rebound and one blocked shot during that stint.
