Lakers player grades: Luka Doncic gets hot, leads L.A. past Pacers
· Yahoo Sports
After falling short by seven points on Thursday to the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers returned home for a matchup against the Indiana Pacers, who came in with an abysmal 15-47 record. Indiana simply doesn't even come close to resembling the team that was one win away from the NBA championship last summer, and it was an opportunity for the Lakers to recalibrate before starting a stretch of challenging games.
Even though LeBron James, Deandre Ayton and Maxi Kleber didn't play in this contest, the Lakers prevailed in no-sweat fashion. A late first-quarter surge allowed them to take a 35-27 lead at the end of the period, and they never looked back, as they notched a 128-117 victory.
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With the Nuggets getting waxed by the New York Knicks, the Lakers, who are now 38-25 and in sixth place in the Western Conference, moved to within one game of Nikola Jokić and crew. They will host the Knicks, who have won 16 of their last 21 games, on Sunday.
Marcus Smart: B
Smart faded down the stretch of Thursday's game when he missed a couple of late 3-pointers that could've turned the tide for L.A. But on Friday, his shot was on target. He went 4-of-6 overall and 3-of-4 from 3-point range to score 11 points, and in 29 minutes, he also had three rebounds and three assists.
Rui Hachimura: B
Hachimura moved into the starting lineup with James out of action. He contributed and was efficient throughout, and he ended up going five of eight from the field and two of three from 3-point range, giving him 13 points. In 23 minutes, he also had three rebounds and one assist.
Jaxson Hayes: B-minus
Hayes had a sensational outing on Thursday with 19 points. While he didn't quite play at that level on Friday, he still contributed in a positive manner. He made half of his six shot attempts and scored nine points, to go along with four rebounds, two assists and one steal in 25 minutes.
Austin Reaves: B-minus
Ever since he returned from a gastrocnemius strain about a month ago, Reaves hasn't been his usual self, and his efficiency has fluctuated from game to game. Versus Indiana, he was unsuccessful on his first five shot attempts of this game, and he went just 1-of-8 in the first half.
He got his fourth foul with 6:51 left in the third quarter, but he finally got himself going offensively afterward. He loosened up and scored 11 points in a short amount of time during the fourth quarter by finally finding some alleys to the basket and drawing some fouls.
Reaves fouled out with 4:58 to go in the fourth quarter with 19 points on 6-of-14 overall shooting and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, five assists and two rebounds in 29 minutes.
Luka Doncic: A
Doncic was as hot as chili peppers during the first quarter. He scored 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and made all five of his 3-point attempts during that period, and he hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first quarter to punctuate a 10-0 Lakers run.
Although his shot became lukewarm in the second quarter and for much of the third quarter, he heated up again and scored nine points in the last 2:13 of the third period. He ended up with 44 points on 14-of-25 overall shooting, 7-of-14 from beyond the arc and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He also had nine rebounds and five assists, and he even had stretches of intelligent, effective defense, which resulted in three steals and two blocks.
Luke Kennard: A
When the Lakers acquired Kennard hours before the NBA's trade deadline, many people and even Lakers fans dismissed it as a nearly meaningless acquisition. But it is becoming clear that he is a valuable contributor off the bench and much more than a one-dimensional 3-point specialist.
On Friday, he hit six of his nine shot attempts and three of his five 3-point tries to score 15 points. In 27 minutes, he also dished off three assists, and he even grabbed seven rebounds.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B/B-plus
Vanderbilt was on the court for 21 minutes against the Pacers, making it the first game since Feb. 5 in which he reached the 20-minute mark. While he was 1-of-4 from the field for two points and clearly still has trouble converting layups and shots near the rim, he gobbled up eight rebounds and also contributed three assists and one steal. He also may be the only player on the Lakers' roster who consistently applies defensive pressure on the perimeter and is able and willing to play 94 feet of active defense on his man.
Jake LaRavia: C-plus
LaRavia continues to struggle mightily to hit from the perimeter. But he played a bit better on Friday and went 3-of-7 from the floor to score eight points, and he also had two rebounds in 16 minutes.
Drew Timme: C
Timme came in from the G League and played 23 minutes while chipping in four points, two rebounds and one assist.
Bronny James, Dalton Knecht, Kobe Bufkin, Chris Mañon: Incomplete
The younger James played the final 4:58 of the game, while Knecht, Bufkin, and Mañon were on the court for the final 3:42. The younger James made no statistical contributions, Knecht hit a trey and chipped in one rebound and one assist, Mañon had two rebounds, and Bufkin notched one assist. Both Mañon and Bufkin went scoreless.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: Luka Doncic gets hot, leads L.A. past Pacers