Lakers player grades: L.A. gets burned by Phoenix Suns
In the first half of Tuesday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers were very competitive and even maintained a lead, and it looked like perhaps they had at least an outside chance of beating the team with the NBA’s best record.
But L.A. was on the wrong side of a third-quarter onslaught, as it has been so many times this season.
The Lakers ended up falling, 121-110, and now it’s official – they are out of contention for a spot in the play-in tournament.
LeBron James sat out his fourth game in the last five due to a sprained ankle, and without him, L.A. had two chances of winning and salvaging its season – slim and none.
It was a sad, meek and dispirited ending to one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of any major team sport.
Dwight Howard: C+
Howard got seven rebounds in 19 minutes, to go along with an efficient 10 points. In that respect, he did his job pretty well.
But on the defensive end, he couldn’t prevent Deandre Ayton from getting easy baskets in the paint. The Suns’ starting center finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds while making 10-of-14 shots.
Bradley barely made an impact tonight, hitting 2-of-4 shots from the field and 1-of-3 from downtown to score five points in 18 minutes.
Malik Monk: C
Monk got into foul trouble early, which prevented him from getting into a rhythm. He played 17 minutes, mostly in the second half, and he wasn’t all that aggressive.
He shot 3-of-7 from the field and 1-of-2 from 3-point range to finish with just seven points, although he did notch five assists.
Westbrook was efficient offensively, shooting 10-of-20 from the field, 2-of-3 from downtown and even 6-of-8 from the free throw line. He finished 28 points in 34 minutes.
However, he turned the ball over six times while managing only three assists.
Anthony Davis: B
Davis was clearly in pain, and his foot problems affected him while running the floor both offensively and defensively. But he is undeniably a trooper, as he gutted it out for 36 minutes and never appeared to want to come out of the game for more than his usual rest periods.
He finished with 21 points on 10-of-18 shooting, to go along with 13 rebounds. Although he only blocked one shot, he did a fairly good job of contesting shots at the rim, although the Suns were able to finish layups in spite of his defense.
Carmelo Anthony: C-
Anthony’s shot just didn’t go down that often tonight. He made just 3-of-10 shots from the field and 2-of-6 from beyond the arc to finish with 10 points in 24 minutes.
He did make a couple of nice defensive plays, as he contributed two steals and one block, as well as six rebounds.
Johnson missed all four of his shots tonight, and his defense seemed to leave plenty to be desired. He scored just two points on free throws and got three rebounds in 15 minutes.
Reaves was probably the only bright spot for the Lakers tonight. He played with spirit and aggression on both ends of the floor, and he even provided a couple of highlight plays by converting at least one circus-style layup.
The rookie finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, along with four rebounds and six assists in 31 minutes.
If the Lakers will return to championship contention next season, Reaves will have to be a part of it.
In 22 minutes, Horton-Tucker made 2-of-5 shots and 1-of-2 from downtown to score seven points, while contributing three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Much of his production came in garbage time, and there was lots of garbage time tonight.
Augustin barely made a dent in 18 minutes of playing time, missing all three of his shots and going scoreless. His only contributions on the stat sheet were one rebound, one assist and one blocked shot.
Wenyen Gabriel: Incomplete
Gabriel got just six minutes tonight, and although he scored a basket on a feed from Reaves, he did nothing else of note.
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