{"id":281169,"date":"2025-11-13T06:10:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T06:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/281169\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T06:10:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T06:10:08","slug":"lakers-player-grades-doncic-and-reaves-struggle-against-nbas-best-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/281169\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Player Grades: Doncic And Reaves Struggle Against NBA’s Best Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> ran into the NBA\u2019s best defense on Wednesday night, and it showed. Facing an Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> team that is elite in almost every defensive metric, they forced 20 turnovers and forced the Lakers\u2019 offense into major issues in a 112-92 loss.<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a>, the Lakers\u2019 best players by far, struggled to find any rhythm against OKC\u2019s dominant lineups. The supporting cast didn\u2019t offer much either, as no Laker outside of Dalton Knecht<\/a> reached 15 points. That simply won\u2019t cut it for the Lakers against any top opponent.<\/p>\n

Against an elite, well-prepared defense, Los Angeles couldn\u2019t create high-quality looks or handle OKC\u2019s energy and talent-level on the offensive end when it comes to moving the ball. After an ugly performance, let\u2019s provide a grade for every Lakers player who hit the floor.<\/p>\n

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Luka Doncic: B-<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 19 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST, 2 STL, 0 BLK, 7-20 FG, 1-7 3PT, 4-5 FT, 34 MIN<\/p>\n

Superstar Luka Doncic was clearly frustrated by the Thunder\u2019s constant double-teams and weak-side traps. He tried to carry the offense but forced tough shots and committed several turnovers that were probably unwarranted. His playmaking was there, but his decision-making faltered to OKC\u2019s ball pressure. A gritty effort, but not an efficient one by any means. We give Luka the highest score (tied) because no other Laker seemed he was close to scoring against the Thunder\u2019s elite defense.<\/p>\n

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Dalton Knecht: B-<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 16 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0 BLK, 6-7 FG, 4-5 3PT, 0-0 FT, 20 MIN<\/p>\n

The lone bright spot for Los Angeles when it comes to role players, Knecht was at least efficient. He shot with confidence and gave the offense a jolt whenever he was on the floor. His quick release and movement off the ball opened up the floor a little bit. Knecht wasn\u2019t bad by any means but we can\u2019t give him a higher score since he played signficant garbage minutes and he could add to his stats that way.<\/p>\n

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Austin Reaves: C+<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 13 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK, 4-12 FG, 2-6 3PT, 3-4 FT, 32 MIN<\/p>\n

Austin Reaves entered the game in excellent form but couldn\u2019t reach the same level he did previously. He struggled to create separation and was visibly sped up by Oklahoma City\u2019s hounding defense on the perimeter. While he hit a few threes, and tried to overcome OKC\u2019s tough play, his overall impact was limited, and he finished with more turnovers than assists. Not Reaves\u2019 best night by any means.<\/p>\n

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Rui Hachimura: C+<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 13 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0 BLK, 5-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-2 FT, 28 MIN<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura<\/a> provided scoring and physicality, but he couldn\u2019t fix the game\u2019s momentum once the Thunder captured it to blow the game open. His midrange touch was reliable, ybut t he needs to assert himself more on the glass and in defensive rotations. A solid, if unspectacular, outing from the Lakers\u2019 third-best player in the offensive pecking order without LeBron.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jarred Vanderbilt: C<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 5 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 2-6 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-2 FT, 24 MIN<\/p>\n

Vanderbilt brought energy but not much else. His defense remained solid, but his limited scoring and three-point threat made him a non-factor once the Thunder gave him looks. This was an example of a high-motor night that didn\u2019t move the needle at all, even if it wasn\u2019t for a lack of trying.<\/p>\n

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Deandre Ayton: C<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 6 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK, 3-8 FG, 0-0 3PT, 0-0 FT, 26 MIN<\/p>\n

Deandre Ayton<\/a> was passive on both ends, often outmuscled by Chet Holmgren and slow to react on defense. The Lakers need more from him in terms of interior presence and energy and his lack of physicality was a major factor in L.A.\u2019s struggles tonight. Ayton is often criticized for these exact reasons but considering nobody else played particuarly well, he isn\u2019t solely to blame.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Marcus Smart: C<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 7 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 0 BLK, 3-9 FG, 1-4 3PT, 0-0 FT, 29 MIN<\/p>\n

Marcus Smart\u2019s defense and intensity was there, but his decision-making offensively left plenty to be desired. He forced several ill-advised shots early and struggled to calm the Lakers players when the ball was in his hands. His effort on defense and hustle plays provided some stability, especially in spurts, but it wasn\u2019t the former DPOY\u2019s best performance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jaxson Hayes: C<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 4 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1 BLK, 2-4 FG, 0-0 3PT, 0-0 FT, 14 MIN<\/p>\n

Jaxson Hayes provided brief rim-running in 14 minutes, but it didn\u2019t translate into any signficant production. He had a couple of easy buckets but was otherwise outplayed by OKC\u2019s frontcourt. Off the bench, Hayes didn\u2019t hit the mark.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bronny James: N\/A<\/p>\n

Game Stats: 0 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0 BLK, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, 0-0 FT, 9 MIN<\/p>\n

Bronny had limited minutes in garbage time, not the best situation for the young player. Not enough action to fairly evaluate his impact and consideirng the scoreline, he probably should have got more minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers ran into the NBA\u2019s best defense on Wednesday night, and it showed. Facing an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-281169","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}