The Lakers are starting out a challenging but home-heavy stretch of their schedule. On Thursday evening, they brought a three-game winning streak into a matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena looking to continue to build momentum.
Early on, they were dominant, as they led 33-17 at the end of the first quarter and were up by as many as 23 points early in the second quarter. But as they have at times, they let their opponents back into the game. Minnesota came to within 11 points at halftime and it cut the Lakers lead to three points with 5:23 left in the final period.
Fortunately, the Purple and Gold were able to hold Minnesota at bay afterward and come away with a 111-102 win. They have now taken 16 of their last 20 games and have moved into fourth place in the Western Conference with a 36-21 record.
This contest wasn’t pretty for them. They shot just 41.5% from the field and 26.8% from 3-point range, and they even had some trouble from the charity stripe, as they made only 69.6% of their free throw attempts. L.A. mustered just eight fast-break points while allowing the Timberwolves to score 23 points on the break, and it had a slim two-point advantage in points in the paint.
But as they have been doing lately, the Lakers won with defense by holding Minnesota to 41.7% shooting and outrebounding Minnesota 52-41. They’re building a nice foundation at the right time of the season, and for about the last month, they have been arguably the best defensive team in the NBA.
Rui Hachimura: D
Hachimura only managed to score five points on 2-of-6 shooting while adding three rebounds and two assists. He played just 18 minutes after pulling up lame early in the third quarter just after scoring a breakaway bucket, and he headed to the locker room. He was ruled out for the rest of the evening with what was called a left knee strain.
Jaxson Hayes: B
While Hayes is being miscast as a starting center due to the Lakers’ lack of viable players at that position, he continues to be a nice lob threat. He slipped into doubles figures in scoring with 10 points on 3-of-5 field-goal shooting and 4-of-6 from the foul line, and he grabbed seven rebounds while chipping in one steal and one block in 23 minutes.
Austin Reaves: A-minus
Rather quietly, Reaves scored 23 points very efficiently. He hit five of his 10 shot attempts and went 11 of 12 from the free throw line, and he also helped out with six rebounds, five assists and two steals. While he committed four turnovers, he is starting to benefit from Luka Doncic’s arrival, as he doesn’t have to work as hard as he used to in order to get good shot opportunities.
Luka Doncic: D-plus/C-minus
Doncic got off to a strong start by scoring 11 points in the first quarter. But afterward, he struggled mightily to find the bottom of the basket.
He missed 10 shot attempts in a row before finally getting a big bucket with just under five minutes left. Not too long after, he somehow made a desperation fallaway 3-pointer with a defender in his face for his first bucket from that distance. Overall, he shot just 6-of-20 from the floor, 1-of-9 from downtown and 8-of-12 on free throws to end up with 21 points. But he was a monster on the boards with 13 rebounds, and he chipped in five assists.
LeBron James: A
James seems to be expending less energy overall, and it has allowed him to maintain his energy throughout a game. He scored 19 points on some hot shooting in the first half, and he ended the game with 33 points on 11-of-21 overall shooting and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. James was also a backboards-eater with 17 rebounds, and he also dealt out six assists.
Dorian Finney-Smith: C-minus
Finney-Smith took four shots, all of them coming from behind the 3-point line, and he made just one of them. He scored three points and added one offensive rebound, one assist and one steal in 31 minutes.
Gabe Vincent: D
Vincent was yet another Lakers player who couldn’t hit from the outside. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts, and overall, he was just 1-of-6 from the field for four points. His only other contribution was one rebound in 20 minutes.
Jarred Vanderbilt: C-plus
Vanderbilt spent some time guarding Anthony Edwards and helped prevent the Timberwolves star from getting up a ton of shot attempts. Edwards was ultimately ejected in the third quarter after getting two technical fouls because he argued for a foul that wasn’t called, and he scored a modest 18 points in 26 minutes.
Vanderbilt had five points himself, including a 3-pointer, plus two rebounds and one assist in 13 minutes.
Jordan Goodwin: B-plus
At times, Goodwin has played well for the Lakers ever since they called him up from the G League. On Thursday, he scored seven points by converting three of his five shot attempts, including a 3-pointer, and he also had two steals, one rebound and one assist in 13 minutes.
However, the guard had an unenviable moment when he got posterized on a fast break by Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon Jr.
Dalton Knecht: D
Knecht has struggled in his last five games. Against Minnesota, he missed both of his shot attempts and both of his free throw attempts. His only positive contribution was one rebound in 11 minutes.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. wins its fourth game in a row