The Los Angeles Lakers came close to pulling off one of their finest comeback wins of the season on Thursday, but fell 112-104 to the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome. The Lakers had managed to cut what was once a 26-point deficit down to two midway through the fourth quarter, and seemed on their way to an epic victory.
The Clippers, though, then responded in some style with a 10-0 run to create some much-needed separation. The Lakers still had a bit of a sniff at the end, but the hosts held on to drop the visitors to 26-17 on the season.
LeBron James: B+
Game Stats: 23 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 4 TOV, 9-19 FG, 1-4 3PT, 4-5 FT, 36 MIN
LeBron James was far from his best for much of this night, as he had 14 points on just 5-14 shooting from the field entering the fourth quarter. James then came alive in the fourth with nine points on 4-5 shooting from the field. Surrounding the 41-year-old with players who will hustle and play good defense is still a successful strategy in the NBA, and they gave the Clippers an almighty scare.
James can’t get a better grade here due to his struggles early on, though. The 21-time All-Star was also careless with the ball, as evidenced by those turnovers.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B+
Game Stats: 7 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 4 STL, 1 BLK, 3-5 FG, 1-1 3PT, 22 MIN
The stat line doesn’t really indicate how well Jarred Vanderbilt played in this one. There was nothing much to write home about offensively, but he was great on the defensive end. Vanderbilt was one of those who was doing all that dirty work as the Lakers stormed back.
Later on, Vanderbilt got a huge steal on an inbounds pass with 31 seconds remaining with the Lakers trailing 110-104. It led to Luka Doncic getting a wide-open look from three, but he shockingly didn’t take it. The Lakers would fail to score on the possession, and that was that.
Plus-minus doesn’t always accurately depict how well a player performed in a game, but it did here. Vanderbilt was a team-high +16.
Marcus Smart: B+
Game Stats: 10 PTS, 4 AST, 2 STL, 1 TOV, 4-10 FG, 1-5 3PT, 1-1 FT, 30 MIN
Marcus Smart was another who played a big role in the Lakers’ comeback attempt in this game. Of Smart’s 10 points, eight came in the fourth quarter. All of his assists came in the fourth as well. Smart was everywhere on the court, and it was the kind of display we have seen from him so many times over the years.
Luka Doncic: B
Game Stats: 32 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST, 3 STL, 1 TOV, 11-27 FG, 3-13 3PT, 7-10 FT, 39 MIN
Doncic almost getting a 30-point triple-double would lead you to believe he played well here, but he didn’t. The Slovenian was incredibly inefficient. Scoring 32 points on 27 shots isn’t good enough, and he kept missing from deep. The one time you wanted Doncic to shoot was after Vanderbilt stole the ball, but he hesitated. Who knows what would have happened had he taken the shot and made it?
Rui Hachimura: B
Game Stats: 12 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 1 BLK, 1 TOV, 5-11 FG, 2-7 3PT, 28 MIN
Rui Hachimura has been criticized for his defense this season, but he had one of the best defensive possessions of this season against Jordan Miller in the fourth quarter. He, too, was impressive as the Lakers were eating into that Clippers lead, but his shots weren’t falling in the fourth. Hachimura went 1-4 from three in the period, and this game could have ended differently had he made a couple of those.
Jake LaRavia: B-
Game Stats: 7 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 3 STL, 4 BLK, 1 TOV, 2-5 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1-2 FT, 22 MIN
Jake LaRavia made his first two shots of the night, both three-pointers, and it looked like we were set to witness quite an offensive showing. LaRavia wouldn’t make another field goal the rest of the way, though. He was at least active on the defensive end. It is quite impressive to rack up three steals and four blocks in a game.
Jaxson Hayes: C+
Game Stats: 6 PTS, 2 REB, 1 BLK, 1 TOV, 3-4 FG, 17 MIN
Jaxson Hayes was the best center for the Lakers on the night, but that isn’t saying much. They were really at their best here when they didn’t have a traditional big man on the floor.
Drew Timme: C
Game Stats: 1 REB, 1 AST, 10 MIN
Drew Timme has come up big offensively for the Lakers in recent games, but was pretty much a non-factor on that end against the Clippers. Timme did at least make some hustle plays and was solid early on in the fourth quarter as the visitors were turning the tide.
Gabe Vincent: C-
Game Stats: 3 PTS, 1 REB, 1-2 FG, 1-1 3PT, 16 MIN
Gabe Vincent has struggled for the Lakers lately, and his stock didn’t increase with this display. Vincent did make the only three he attempted, but the fact that he didn’t play a single minute in the fourth quarter suggests that head coach JJ Redick doesn’t have too much faith in him.
Deandre Ayton: D
Game Stats: 4 PTS, 5 REB, 1 BLK, 1 TOV, 2-5 FG, 21 MIN
The Lakers got the bad version of Deandre Ayton in this one. Ayton didn’t do much to prevent Ivica Zubac from dominating on the glass, with the Clippers center hauling in 19 rebounds. Ayton only played five minutes in the entire second half, and the Lakers were so much better without him.
