Players Grades: Lakers vs. Nuggets

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 112-105 Game 3 loss to the Nuggets.

There are no long introductions needed this time. We’re just shy of a dozen episodes deep into this show and the plot is the same every time.

The Lakers start fast, build double-digit lead, the Nuggets grind away and take the lead, eventually win.

The starring players and standout supporting cast change from game to game. There might even be a little twist like the Lakers’ implosion in Game 2, but the story ends the same.

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

Rui Hachimura

28 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2-4 FG, 1-2 3PT, 0-2 FT, -12

I wrote about this in greater length in the three takeaways from the loss, so you can read more about it there, but Rui is kind of the tip of the Lakers problems right now. Because he can’t stay on the floor, the Lakers are forced into small lineups that don’t work.

Just a wholly disappointing series for him.

Grade: F

LeBron James

42 minutes, 26 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 12-20 FG, 1-6 3PT, 1-2 FT, -8

Final stat line be damned, this was not a good game from LeBron. Offensively, he never was assertive, was careless with the ball and did not look like someone playing with the season on the line.

Defensively, he was torched by Aaron Gordon, whether via baseline cuts or on putbacks. Either by design or by his own volition — and I’m leaning the latter — LeBron was so focused on Nikola Jokic that Gordon had free reign for putbacks all night long.

LeBron did not have the necessary energy in this one.

Grade: C-

Anthony Davis

43 minutes, 33 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 14-23 FG, 5-7 FT, -4

I feel bad for Anthony Davis, who is putting together a masterful series. On Thursday, the team at least did a better job of feeding him the ball in the second half, though even then they didn’t do it enough.

The image I’m going to have from this series, though, is the countless times in the fourth quarter AD was either driving into the paint or fighting for a rebound where it was just him surrounded by four or five Nuggets.

Grade: A

Austin Reaves

41 minutes, 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 8-17 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4-4 FT, -4

Again, another instance where the stat line does not tell the story of how bad Austin was in this game. In the first 40 minutes he played, he scored 14 points on 14 shots. He then proceeded to score eight points in the final minute, including a pair of 3-pointers, to pad that stat line.

Austin was at least aggressive and assertive throughout. And I’m not going to discredit him for fighting until the end. But for 47 minutes of this game, he was not good enough. By the time he was, the final result was sealed.

Grade: C

D’Angelo Russell

24 minutes, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 0-7 FG, 0-6 3PT, -6

There is no bouncing back from this. There is no excitement about Game 4. Season on the line and the team in need of a big performance, D’Lo put up the biggest stinker of his Lakers playoff career.

You can’t hide from this one. This one is going to be hard, maybe impossible, to come back from.

Grade: F

Gabe Vincent

20 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2-4 FG, 0-1 3PT, +0

Credit to the Lakers bench for playing much better in this game than they did in Denver. Vincent again really brought it defensively against Jamal Murray and added some offensive contribution as well.

Grade: B

Spencer Dinwiddie

22 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3-8 FG, 0-3 3PT, 2-2 FT, +3

I’m still not a big fan of Dinwiddie, but it’s hard not to give him some credit on Thursday. He certainly was far from the worst Lakers guard on the night. I still would love for him to knock down an open 3-pointer, but that applied to lots of Lakers in Game 3.

Grade: B-

Taurean Prince

20 minutes, 7 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3-7 FG, 1-4 3PT, -4

Another Lakers bench player who continued being dependable. Look, the Lakers bench answered the bell as a whole on the night. They had 19 points and while they didn’t shoot well from three, I would take their overall production in most games.

Grade: B

Thursday’s DNPs: Max Christie, Jaxson Hayes, Maxwell Lewis

Thursday’s inactives: Jalen Hood-Schifino, Christian Wood, Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.