Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden was one of the NBA’s most anticipated games of this regular season. It was billed as one of the last, if not the last, times LeBron James would visit the Knicks, not to mention a matchup between two teams looking to take that next step and become true championship squads.
The first half was competitive, with the Lakers holding a slight edge. They led by as many as nine points in the first quarter and were up 56-52 at halftime. But a 12-2 run by New York late in the third quarter allowed it to take control. It outscored L.A. 38-26 in the period, and widened its lead enough in the final quarter to hand Los Angeles a 112-100 loss.
Advertisement
The Lakers’ offense dried up after halftime — it scored just 44 points during that time — and they shot an underwhelming 45.2% from the field and 28.6% from 3-point range for the game, while the Knicks hit 42.9% of their 3-point attempts. New York outscored the Lakers 16-7 in fast-break points and outrebounded them 46-36, and its ball movement and player movement were clearly superior in this contest.
Marcus Smart: D/D-plus
Smart helped hold Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson to just 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting. But he didn’t contribute nearly enough offensively. He shot just 2-of-9 from the field and 1-of-4 from 3-point land, and he finished with seven points, three assists and one steal in 30 minutes.
Jake LaRavia: D
This was a game in which the Lakers needed offensive production from their non-stars, and LaRavia was one of many who didn’t get the job done. He shot 2-of-7 from the field, with all but one of his shot attempts coming from beyond the arc. He played 23 minutes and ended up with five points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Advertisement
Deandre Ayton: D-plus/C-minus
Ayton did fairly well in the first half with 11 points, but his offensive opportunities were few and far between afterward. He finished with 13 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal in 32 minutes, and he didn’t do nearly enough, especially in the second half, to help make this game competitive.
On the other side, Ayton allowed All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns to grab 13 rebounds, while backup center Mitchell Robinson got seven rebounds in 23 minutes.
LeBron James: B-minus
James didn’t exactly have a bad game — he shot 9-of-15 from the field and ended up with 22 points, five rebounds, six assists and one steal in 35 minutes. But perhaps he could’ve done more late in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter when this game got away from L.A.
Advertisement
Luka Doncic: A-minus
This wasn’t the most efficient of performances for Doncic, but it wasn’t exactly a bad one either. He shot 10-of-23 overall and 5-of-14 from downtown, giving him 30 points, to go along with 15 rebounds and eight assists.
But in a continuation of a problem that has plagued the Lakers for a while, they had a lack of ball movement and player movement in their halfcourt offense when Doncic had the rock at the top of the floor. It resulted in him taking plenty of tough, contested treys with the shot clock running down, and while he’s capable of hitting such shots, that type of operating format offensively isn’t exactly a recipe for success.
Gabe Vincent: A-minus
In 18 minutes, Vincent gave Los Angeles enough of an offensive spark. He made three of his five shot attempts and two of his four attempts from 3-point range, giving him eight points, to go along with one rebound.
Advertisement
Jaxson Hayes: D-plus/C-minus
Hayes blocked two shots, but he had just two points and two rebounds in 12 minutes. With Ayton practically invisible in the second half, the Lakers needed Hayes to play tall, and he simply didn’t do that.
Rui Hachimura: B
In 29 minutes off the bench, Hachimura contributed 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, plus three rebounds and one assist. He seems to be in a fairly good rhythm in his new role as an instant offense player off the bench, and the Lakers badly need instant offense off the bench, as they’re last in the NBA in bench points per game.
Jarred Vanderbilt: D
Vanderbilt played some active defense, but he missed all four of his shot attempts, and even worse, he got only two rebounds in 20 minutes.
Advertisement
Dalton Knecht, Maxi Kleber, Drew Timme, Nick Smith Jr.: Incomplete
Knecht, Timme and Smith went scoreless, while Kleber scored one point on a free throw and also had one rebound.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers payer grades: L.A. fades late, loses to Knicks at MSG