Players Grades: Lakers vs. Grizzlies

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 136-124 win over the Grizzlies.

The Lakers had a couple of defensive lapses allowing the Grizzlies to have some hope for a comeback, but in general, the Lakers cruised to victory and dominated most of the game.

The win was impressive not only because it was the team’s second road victory in a row, but because they did it with Anthony Davis missing the game due to a left knee hyperextension.

Los Angeles is now rolling and has won five straight and are just two games behind the Phoenix Suns. They have the tiebreaker over the Suns and given their current form, the Lakers can absolutely take the eighth seed if they can stay focused and beat the teams in front of them.

For now, let’s grade the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

Rui Hachimura

36 minutes, 32 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 11-14 FG, 7-8 3PT, 3-4 FT, +35

Wednesday’s game has to be the best individual performance in Hachimura’s career. He had 32 points, a career-high seven made 3-pointers, a pair of blocks and continued cleaning the glass with ten rebounds.

Sure, he’s had big games in bigger moments, but 11-14 from the field with Davis out was not only desired but necessary.

Los Angeles needed players to step up and Hachimura was one of many who answered the call.

Grade: A+

LeBron James

35 minutes, 23 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 steal, 8-14 FG, 0-1 3PT, 7-11 FT, +33

Coming back after his one-game departure, LeBron was in good form.

He picked his spots and paced himself, but only LeBron could make a triple-double where he leads the team in rebounds and assists look like an okay game.

With the Grizzlies threatening to get back into the contest, LeBron started the fourth and drove into the paint, imposing his will and getting to the foul line. He had the highest plus-minus in the final 12 minutes at +6 to secure the win for the purple and gold.

Grade: B+

Austin Reaves

35 minutes, 13 points, 2 rebounds, 11 assists, 4-12 FG, 0-4 3PT, 5-5 FT, +31

Reaves had some wonderful lobs to Hayes and Bron in the first quarter, but after that, it was a pedestrian performance from him.

Not everyone can have a great game and maybe other players going off meant less impact by Reaves. He didn’t have a bad game, but it wasn’t one to write home about either.

Grade: C+

Spencer Dinwiddie

25 minutes, 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 4-7 FG, 3-4 3PT, 3-3 FT, -11

Dinwiddie returned to the bench with LeBron back and fit well in that role versus the Grizzlies. He was better offensively than in Tuesday’s Milwaukee game and while he didn’t give you much other than a handful of buckets, it’s closer to the kind of performance one can expect from Dinwiddie on this team.

Grade: C

D’Angelo Russell

29 minutes, 23 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 7-16 FG, 5-9 3PT, 4-4 FT, +1

Russell’s 3-point shooting was his biggest contribution to the game. It felt like whenever Memphis was threatening to get back in it, he’d hit a timely three to keep them at bay.

Defensively, he was average, sloppy with the ball with four turnovers and was no help on the glass. Russell has been sharper most of March, so this game is one of his weaker all-around games, even though he was still a flamethrower from deep.

Grade: C+

Taurean Prince

23 minutes, 15 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 4-5 FG, 3-4 3PT, 4-6 FT, -3

Taurean was the prince and the pauper on Wednesday. He hit big 3-Pointers in the second half to secure the result, but he was poor defensively and for every good play, you got two bone-headed mistakes that reminded you why you’re not his biggest fan.

It was hard to diminish his minutes tonight with Davis out, but he might need one less shift moving forward.

Grade: C

Jaxson Hayes

31 minutes, 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 6-7 FG, 2-2 FT, +6

This was one of Hayes’ best games in a Lakers uniform. With Davis out, he got the start and was his usual efficient self, but not for a couple of shifts but for 31 minutes. He kept his energy up all night, grabbed seven rebounds, and ensured the impact of Davis’ absence was minimal.

If this is the kind of play the Lakers can get from Hayes, he needs to play more the rest of the way.

Grade: A+

Cam Reddish

10 minutes, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, -17

Reddish’s defense was bad, but his offense was worse.

Yes, he’s coming back from injury, so some grace is needed, but there is no time for that. It might be DNP time if Reddish can’t give Darvin Ham a reason to play him.

Grade: F

Harry Giles III, Max Christie

These two played under seven minutes apiece. The shifts were short and not sufficient enough to give out a grade.

Skylar Mays, Colin Castleton, Maxwell Lewis

All three made an appearance in the last 79 seconds to just run out the clock, so grading this trio is not possible.

Darvin Ham

Overall, a good game from Ham. He called timeouts when needed, started Hayes, which worked well and limited Prince and Reddish’s minutes.

The only area I think could’ve used improvement was during the third quarter when the Grizzlies went on a 15-0 run. A timeout or adjustment was needed sooner, but the lead was big enough to withstand such a run and the team still cruised to victory in the fourth.

Grade: A

Tuesday’s DNPs: Harry Giles III, Maxwell Lewis

Wednesday’s inactives: Anthony Davis, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Christian Wood, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.