After losing six of their previous 10 games, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to form on Sunday when they hosted the Sacramento Kings, and it was refreshing for their fans to see.
They finally displayed some consistent defensive prowess for an entire game after suffering through lots of defensive problems throughout this month. For the first time in what seemed like forever, they didn’t get off to a slow start and fall behind early — instead, they took a 30-24 lead at the end of the first quarter. They won the second quarter 38-29 and ended the period on an 11-2 run, and that seemed to set the tone for the game. Los Angeles increased its lead to as many as 30 points, but it didn’t let up much, as it ended up winning 125-101.
Sacramento, which has several recent All-Stars on its roster, shot 48.2% from the field for the game but made just 42.9% of its shot attempts in the second half while going 8-of-29 from 3-point range overall. Los Angeles was at 52.8% field-goal shooting and 39.5% from downtown on the night and scored 23 points off 19 Kings turnovers. In general, it was a fairly excellent effort against a Kings team that came into this contest with an 8-23 record.
This victory moved the Lakers into fourth place in the Western Conference with a 20-10 record, although they’re just one game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are in sixth place.
Rui Hachimura: B
When the Lakers lost by 23 points to the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day, Hachimura missed all six of his shot attempts and went scoreless. On Sunday, he looked more like his usual self.
He hit half of his 10 shot attempts and scored 12 points and also had four rebounds, one assist and two steals.
Marcus Smart: D
This was another game where Smart had minimal impact in general. In 20 minutes, he went scoreless and took just one shot, and he ended up with three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Deandre Ayton: B/B-plus
Ayton was somewhat quiet offensively with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, but he definitely made an impact in other areas of the game. He grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked two shots, and he also chipped in two assists.
LeBron James: A-minus
James continues to look like he has barely lost anything in terms of his athleticism or overall ability to play basketball at a superstar level. He missed only two of his 13 shot attempts and finished with 24 points, to go along with three rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ten of his points came in the first quarter, and those points helped L.A. get off to a solid start.
He threw down a couple of strong dunks in this game, which is a sign that he continues to be spry just two days shy of his 41st birthday.
Since the Lakers built a big lead and held onto it, James only played 29 minutes. Blowing teams out will be the best way for him to execute load management from here on out.
Luka Doncic: A-minus
Doncic got off to a slow start in this game in terms of his efficiency, but he had 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the second quarter to help the Lakers start to establish a sizable lead. For the game, he had 34 points on 11-of-23 overall shooting and 5-of-14 from beyond the arc, plus five rebounds, seven assists, three steals and one block in 33 minutes.
However, ball security continues to be a problem for him, as he had five turnovers, with three of them coming in the first quarter.
Jake LaRavia: B-minus
LaRavia made a decent effort in this game to be aggressive on offense. He took eight shots and made three of them, although he missed all three of his 3-point tries. He finished with 11 points thanks to five free throws, and he also contributed two rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block.
Nick Smith Jr.: A
Smith gave the Lakers excellent production when he was on the court. He made each of his first seven shot attempts, and although he cooled off considerably in the fourth quarter, he still shot 8-of-14 on the night and scored 21 points in 24 minutes.
If the Lakers get some consistent offensive production from Smith — not necessarily the type of production he had in this game, but simply something approaching double digits in scoring with good efficiency — it would greatly help them win plenty of games while Austin Reaves recovers from his Grade 2 gastrocnemius strain.
Jarred Vanderbilt: C-minus
Vanderbilt seemed almost invisible in this contest. In 22 minutes, he scored five points on 2-of-4 shooting and added two rebounds and two steals.
Maxi Kleber: C-minus
In 13 minutes, Kleber scored two points on free throws and missed both of his shot attempts and had three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Bronny James, Dalton Knecht, Adou Thiero, Drew Timme: Incomplete
The younger James, Knecht and Thiero played in the final 4:36 of this game, while Timme was on the court for just over three minutes. The younger James made no statistical contributions, while Knecht hit one 3-pointer and had one rebound, and Thiero had two points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal on an intercepted pass. Timme chipped in one rebound.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. gets back on track by blowing out Kings
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