The Los Angeles Lakers responded to blowout losses at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks last Saturday and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday to get a 14-point win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. That win gave them a 2-2 record on their five-game road trip, and they had the opportunity to end the trip with a winning record when they took on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Forward Rui Hachimura was ruled out prior to the opening tip due to left calf soreness, and Marcus Smart wasn’t available because of an illness. But it didn’t matter.
The Lakers started to build a lead roughly midway through the first quarter and never looked back. They led 30-18 at the end of the first quarter, and Los Angeles gained a firm grip on the game thanks to its defense. It held the Bucks to just 24.4% field-goal shooting in the first half, and after Gary Harris hit a 3-pointer with eight minutes left in the second quarter, the Bucks didn’t make another field goal until early in the third quarter.
They promptly went on a 15-0 run to start the third quarter, but L.A. regained control and powered its way to a 119-95 victory. It allowed the Bucks to shoot 40% from the field, outrebounded the Bucks by eight and had eight more points in the paint. The win pushed the Lakers’ record to 10-4, which puts them in fourth place in the Western Conference.
They will now have two full days off before hosting the Utah Jazz. After Tuesday’s game, they will be off until Sunday, Nov. 23, when they visit the Jazz.
Jake LaRavia: D-plus
LaRavia simply couldn’t get his shot to fall on Saturday. He went 1-of-10 from the field and missed all four of his 3-point attempts, which limited him to four points. He did contribute six rebounds, two steals and one assist in 37 minutes.
Bronny James: D
James got a rare start with Hachimura and Smart out of action. He seemed passive offensively and took only two shot attempts, both of which he missed. But he did produce a highlight play.
Late in the fourth quarter, he stole the ball and started a fast break, then ended it with a textbook bounce pass to rookie forward Adou Thiero for a thunderous dunk. It was Thiero’s first basket of his NBA career, and James made it happen.
Deandre Ayton: A
The Lakers are doing a good job of utilizing Ayton off pick and rolls and on lob passes rather than simply getting him the ball in the post or at the free throw line extended and expecting him to create his own offense. Against Milwaukee, he converted nine of his 13 shot attempts and both of his free throw attempts to score 20 points, and he also grabbed 10 rebounds while adding two steals and one block.
Defensively, he did a good job of defending Antetokounmpo when the Bucks superstar got near the rim. Antetokounmpo had 32 points, but he got off just 15 shot attempts and had five turnovers.
Austin Reaves: A
For the second evening in a row, Reaves was fantastic. He had 31 points on 9-of-16 field-goal shooting and seven assists on Friday, and on Saturday, he continued to be efficient.
He made nine of his 17 shot attempts and went 5-of-9 from 3-point range to score 25 points, and he also dished off eight assists and grabbed six rebounds while adding one steal. He did a good job of reading the defense to hit teammates with passes that led to easy looks, which was one reason the Lakers shot 49.4% from the field and 39.4% from downtown.
Luka Doncic: A
After some poor shooting performances this month, Doncic had an extremely efficient outing on Saturday.
He went 9-of-19 from the field and 5-of-11 from beyond the arc, but he continually drew fouls, which allowed him to attempt 20 free throws, of which he made 18. He had 36 points through three quarters and ended with 41 points, plus nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks and one steal.
Dalton Knecht: B
Knecht ended up going 4-of-8 from the field and 1-of-4 from 3-point land to score nine points. He found other ways to contribute by coming down with six rebounds and adding three steals, one assist and a shot block on Antetokounmpo in 34 minutes.
Maxi Kleber: C
Kleber played 25 minutes and was rather quiet. He made his only shot attempt, which was a 3-pointer, and had three points, three assists and one rebound while getting called for five fouls.
However, Lakers head coach JJ Redick said after the game that Kleber was a big part of the victory with his physicality and leadership, and those two qualities cannot be measured with numbers or formulas.
Jaxson Hayes: A-minus
Hayes made an impact in the 17 minutes he was on the floor. He scored 10 points by going 3-of-4 on field-goal attempts and making all four of his free throw tries, and he also had six rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Jarred Vanderbilt: D
In eight minutes, Vanderbilt went scoreless, didn’t attempt a single shot or free throw and had one rebound, one assist and two turnovers.
Adou Thiero, Nick Smith Jr.: Incomplete
Thiero scored his first NBA points on two free throws before his big dunk on the fast break, and he also got one offensive rebound.
Smith attempted two shots, both of which were 3-pointers, and made one of them. With just under a minute left in the game, he got a steal and made an unselfish pass on the ensuing fast break to Knecht for a dunk.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: Luka Doncic paces L.A. in victory over Bucks
