The Los Angeles Lakers came into Thursday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks having lost their previous two contests to the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. They needed a win badly in order to head into the All-Star break with some good vibes.
The early stages of Thursday’s matchup were close and competitive before Los Angeles opened up a 13-point lead in the second quarter. Dallas closed to within 64-63 at halftime, and it looked like perhaps L.A. was in danger of an embarrassing loss to a Dallas team that was without rookie phenom Cooper Flagg. But the Lakers responded with a 13-2 run late in the third quarter to rebuild a lead it wouldn’t give up.
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They ended up pulling away for a 124-104 victory that improved their record to 33-21 and put them in fifth place in the Western Conference. They outrebounded Dallas by 16, shot 55.8% from the field and had 35 assists while outscoring the Mavs by 12 in the paint.
Marcus Smart: D-plus/C-minus
Smart was aggressive early on defense, and for the second game in a row, he was very aggressive on offense. But he made just four of his 14 shot attempts and went 1-of-9 from 3-point range. He ended up with nine points, six assists, one steal and one block in 26 minutes.
Jake LaRavia: B
LaRavia was a bit quiet offensively at times in this game, but when he decided to assert himself, he was efficient. He made four of his six shot attempts, giving him 11 points, and he also contributed three rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.
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Jaxson Hayes: A
With Deandre Ayton missing another game due to knee soreness, Hayes started in his place. The seven-footer played 34 minutes, which was a season high and an unusually high amount of playing time for him, and he scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds, dished off four assists, came up with three steals and blocked one shot.
Rui Hachimura: A
Hachimura scored 14 points in the first half to make sure the Lakers started off well offensively. Overall, he scored 21 points and hit on nine of his 13 shot attempts, and he also chipped in three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 35 minutes.
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When he is aggressive and efficient offensively, the Lakers seem to play a lot better than they do when he scores in single figures.
LeBron James: A
James was red-hot early, as he scored 14 points in the first quarter. He did a great job of consistently pushing the pace down the middle of the floor in transition, which allowed the Lakers to come up with 20 fast-break points. He ended up scoring 28 points on 10-of-20 field-goal shooting, although he went 2-of-7 from 3-point range and committed four turnovers.
But James also came up with 12 assists and 10 rebounds, giving him his first triple-double of this season. It was the 123rd triple-double of his career and his 50th as a member of the Lakers.
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Austin Reaves: A-minus
Reaves continues to gradually round his way back into peak game shape and rhythm after he missed over a month with a gastrocnemius strain. He once again came off the bench on Thursday, and in 28 minutes, he shot 5-of-10 from the field and scored 18 points while also having six assists and four rebounds.
He’s still struggling with his outside shooting — he was 1-of-3 from 3-point range on Thursday and is 8-of-23 overall from downtown since returning from his injury — but he has still been able to break his defenders off the dribble, get to the rim and finish well like he always has.
Luke Kennard: A
Kennard again played a very solid game off the bench for his new team. He got 18 minutes of playing time and made three of his four shot attempts, including one 3-pointer. The guard ended up with nine points, three assists, one steal and no turnovers, and he even gobbled up seven rebounds.
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Jarred Vanderbilt: B-plus
Vanderbilt scored five points and hit a 3-pointer, and in 17 minutes, he obtained six rebounds and added two steals. He continues to often play with plenty of energy, especially on the defensive end, where he quickly looks to match up right after the basketball changes hands.
Maxi Kleber: B
In 13 minutes, Kleber made a decent contribution. He scored five points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 from downtown, and he also added one rebound.
Drew Timme, Dalton Knecht, Adou Thiero, Kobe Bufkin, Bronny James: Incomplete
All five of these men played the final 1:45 of this game. Of them, Thiero was the only one who scored — he got a basket on a nice spin move that led to a seven-footer in the lane. Timme got an assist on that bucket, and Knecht had one rebound as well.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. heads into the All-Star break with a win
