Players Grades: Lakers vs. Bucks

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 128-124 win over the Bucks.

What a drastic change of how to start a road trip all in one game. For three quarters of Tuesday’s contest, the Lakers looked lost at sea without LeBron James. The offense was non-existent in the opening 12 minutes and playing catch-up resulted in every Lakers run being answered by the Bucks.

But with one really big fourth quarter push, they got back into the game and eventually earned one of the best wins of the year. And that’s saying something because the last meeting against Milwaukee also counts as one of the best wins of the year.

And they did it on the back of their Big 3 of Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell.

The Lakers are going to need quite an incredible performance from LeBron James against the Grizzlies on Wednesday, but that’s a problem for another night.

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.

Austin Reaves

48 minutes, 29 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 blocks, 10-20 FG, 4-11 3PT, 5-6 FT, -2

On a night when he notched a triple-double, it was the quality of some of his shots that is going to elevate his grade even more. Between some important free throws in overtime and the biggest shot of the game, he came up enormous in the clutch.

What also stuck out positively was his defense. Guarding Damian Lillard is often a fool’s errand but Reaves did admirably throughout the fourth quarter and overtimes. Even when Dame grifted some free throws on that 3-pointer, Reaves immediately returned the favor.

Grade: A+

Rui Hachimura

39 minutes, 16 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, 7-14 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT, -6

As much as Rui’s scoring was important in this one, particularly with some clutch overtime buckets, I was just as impressed with some of the other stuff he did. He finished with a career-high in rebounds and battled defensively in the extra sessions.

It didn’t always end with positive results, but it was very good process and he was really good in those two overtimes.

Grade: A

Anthony Davis

52 minutes, 34 points, 23 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks, 12-31 FG, 3-8 3PT, 7-7 FT, +2

Just writing out that stat line is insane.

Matched up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 20-20 game and a triple-double, AD came away from this one looking far more dominant. Perhaps there’s some bias baked in and a bit of what have you done for me lately, but in the fourth quarter and overtime, AD was untouchable defensively.

It’s nights like this where I just can’t fathom there being another defensive player better than him, advanced numbers be damned.

And that’s not even speaking on his offense. He finally got to the six 3-pointer threshold Darvin Ham wanted in the preseason and while he wasn’t efficient, being the lone big against Giannis and Brook Lopez and coming out on top is something that should not be taken lightly.

Grade: A+

Spencer Dinwiddie

42 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1-8 FG, 1-5 3PT, 4-4 FT, +8

After unquestionably his best game as a Laker, Dinwiddie had unquestionably his worst game as a Laker. Playing 42 minutes and making only one field goal is wild. He had a critical turnover in the overtimes as well.

One of my biggest pet peeves with Dinwiddie comes when he sees a 2-for-1 opportunity at the end of quarters. He flips a switch in those moments and makes some of the worst plays he’s made as a Laker.

I will give him some credit for his defensive work, but it doesn’t overshadow an abysmal offensive game.

Grade: D-

D’Angelo Russell

50 minutes, 29 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 7-22 FG, 5-12 3PT, 10-10 FT, +10

It was a tale of two halves for D’Lo. After struggling a lot in the first half, he was a big catalyst offensive in the Lakers making a run in the second half. Fourteen of his points came in the third quarter and seven more came in the fourth.

And, like his teammates, he knocked down some clutch free throws as well. The Bucks will be having nightmares about D’Lo after his two showings against them this year.

Grade: A-

Taurean Prince

28 minutes, 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-10 FG, 1-5 3PT, 2-2 FT, +10

I would say that I thought Taurean was playing hard on Tuesday. It certainly wasn’t an effort issue. With some guys, when the shots aren’t falling or things aren’t going well, the energy and effort level dips, which wasn’t the case with Prince.

But boy, the execution was rough to watch. The reason Dinwiddie played 42 minutes is because Prince was so bad.

Grade: D+

Jaxson Hayes

17 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1-1 FG, 0-1 FT, -5

I’m not sure why it’s only been deployed against the Bucks mainly, but I have liked the two-big looks the Lakers have used in these games. It’s really hard to do with only two centers on the roster, but I hope it’s something they try to go to more in the right matchups.

Hayes playing well is a reason they work. He battled for some good rebounds and was a strong presence in a tough matchup.

Grade: B

Cam Reddish, Max Christie

Oddly, these two only played seven minutes apiece. Even as someone who has campaigned for fewer Reddish minutes, I didn’t imagine we’d get fewer Christie minutes, too. No grade for either.

Darvin Ham

Truthfully, I thought Ham had a fantastic game, particularly in the second half, in this one. Even when the Lakers were struggling in the first half and first quarter, they were largely getting good looks that weren’t falling.

They stuck with it and there’s also something to be said about the belief this team has that they can make a comeback no matter the deficit. That’s a trait not every team has that I think can pretty easily be attributed to Ham and the personality he has and has given this team.

From an X’s and O’s standpoint, one play stuck out to me. In the fourth quarter on the final play for the Lakers, right after Giannis had blown his chance to take the lead, the Lakers used the threat of a very similar play to draw the attention of Giannis and Khris Middleton.

In reality, though, the play was for Reaves. He sprinted out to the 3-point line and may have been a hair further than he wanted to. Still, it was a WIDE open look that was a great design and execution.

Dislike him all you want, but it’d be unfair not to give him credit tonight.

Grade: A

Tuesday’s DNPs: Harry Giles III, Maxwell Lewis

Tuesday’s inactives: LeBron James, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Christian Wood, Colin Castleton, Gabe Vincent, Skylar Mays, Jarred Vanderbilt

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.