Players Grades: Lakers vs. Nuggets

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 119-108 Game 4 win over the Nuggets.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, beats the Lakers a dozen times in a row. Ten times? Sure. Eleven times? Maybe. But twelve times? No shot!

Jokes aside, Saturday’s Game 4 win over the Nuggets was important for many reasons. For one, it was nice to see the Lakers actually put up a fight after not doing so at the end of Game 3. It may have just prolonged the inevitable, but it was nice to see the Lakers at least show some pride.

But in the process, the team may have figured some things out. They scored throughout the entirety of the game — second half included — and got solid showings from all four of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell, a first this postseason.

It might just be a one-game mirage. But it certainly leaves fans with more optimism than they had on Thursday night.

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

Rui Hachimura

22 minutes, 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 4-8 FG, 1-3 3PT, +13

This was both a better game from Rui and still not enough. He was more effective offensively and found ways to get involved and score. But he also just can’t keep up defensively, which is abundantly clear at this point.

He can mitigate some of that by being aggressive and efficient offensively. But this series has really shown some of Rui’s biggest weaknesses.

Grade: C

LeBron James

39 minutes, 30 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 14-23 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT, +1

It wasn’t LeBron’s best game — there were still a few too many turnovers and defensive breakdowns — but he definitely much better in Game 4, to say the least. There were multiple times in the fourth where he determined he was getting to the rim and/or scoring against a mismatch.

He also looked fresher at the end of the game in the fourth when the Lakers needed him. He only played a handful fewer minutes but perhaps it was how they were allocated or him keeping some more in reserve, but he had an extra gear in the fourth he hasn’t always had this series.

Grade; A

Anthony Davis

42 minutes, 25 points, 23 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 11-17 FG, 3-4 FT, +11

This is one of those nights where you write out the stat line and marvel. The Lakers have had rebounding issues against the Nuggets in basically all over the last 12 games. On Saturday, AD simply determined he wouldn’t allow that to happen.

He grabbed 20 defensive rebounds, which were massive. And Nikola Jokic has had absolutely nothing for him defensively this series. Just an all-time stretch of games for AD.

Grade: A+

Austin Reaves

30 minutes, 21 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 7-15 FG, 1-6 3PT, 6-6 FT, +1

Without question, this is the most comfortable Austin Reaves has looked this series. Reaves padded his stats at the end of Game 3, but that may have helped him find a rhythm moving forward.

Whatever it may be, this was a much-needed performance from Reaves, who has back-to-back 20-point games now. This one, though, was a lot more impactful.

Also, I probably haven’t given him enough credit for how good he’s been defensively against Jamal Murray.

Grade: A-

D’Angelo Russell

41 minutes, 21 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 8-15 FG, 4-8 3PT, 1-2 FT, +15

It’s not great for the Lakers Game 5 hopes that D’Lo seems to be alternating good and bad games this series. It was great news for their hopes of being swept on Saturday, though.

The big difference between this and Game 2 is that D’Lo really let the game come to him in this one. He scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and picked his spots much better.

Grade: A-

Taurean Prince

30 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3-7 FG, 1-4 3PT, 2-2 FT, +4

Really can’t say enough good things about Prince in this series. He’s been a consistent, reliable bench player, something the Lakers have had few of this postseason.

He’s stepped up in Rui’s absence for much of the year and has closed a number of games. He can do a bit too much at times, but I’d rather he be aggressive than a bystander.

Grade: B+

Spencer Dinwiddie

14 minutes, 1 point, 2 rebounds, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-2 FT, +4

I think the sequence that sums up Dinwiddie’s postseason is when he turned down an open 3-pointer on one possession by overthinking things. Then, on the next possession, he shot a contested corner 3-pointer that missed.

It’s not a like-for-like change, but hard not to wonder if Christian Wood should perhaps get his minutes.

Grade: F

Gabe Vincent

17 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1-4 FG, 1-2 3PT, +6

This has more or less been the typical Vincent stat line since his return. You probably aren’t going to get more than this. But his contributions are also much more than on the stat line as he’s also done really good defensively against Jamal Murray.

Grade: C+

Jaxson Hayes

6 minutes, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 0-2 FG, +0

I will admit I was wrong. I called for more Hayes minutes, he got them on Saturday and did not look good. He missed a couple of defensive assignments and went wild with an iso post-up possession.

That should probably be the last of that.

Grade: F

Darvin Ham

Chalk up me not giving him a grade in Game 3 to it being about 4 a.m. when I posted it. Ham did a couple of different things in Game 4 that I liked.

For one, he went back to a rotation for LeBron and AD that mirrored his regular season one. Whether that contributed to LeBron looking fresher in the fourth isn’t a certainty but I thought it worked better for the Lakers on Saturday.

The big talking point will probably be the non-challenge in the fourth that LeBron James was pleading for.

Here’s the deal, LeBron was right in this instance. But just because LeBron says to challenge doesn’t mean you should. It’s been far more rare that LeBron, or about any NBA superstar, is right when asking for those challenges.

The officials should be the ones criticized for putting the ball in play way too fast. The bench was never going to be able to review the replay quickly enough to determine whether to challenge.

It’s also just objectively an awful move by LeBron to thrown a tantrum like a kid who didn’t get the cereal they wanted at the grocery story on this play. It directly cost the Lakers two points! Just unacceptable in every way from LeBron.

Outside of all of that hullabaloo, this was a good game from Ham, who remained diligent in the second half with his playcalling, which directly led to more points and open looks.

Grade: A

Saturday’s DNPs: Max Christie, Maxwell Lewis, Christian Wood

Saturday’s inactives: Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish, Jalen Hood-Schifino

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.