Lakers player grades: L.A. gets stomped on in a Bulls stampede
The Los Angeles Lakers got all of their injured rotation players back on Saturday after they lost with a very short-handed crew to the Milwaukee Bucks by 29 points. That meant LeBron James and Rui Hachimura also returned to the lineup after being out for a while due to a groin strain and patellar tendinopathy, respectively.
The Lakers played the Bulls, a team that came in with a 30-40 record, and thus most likely felt a win was almost a lock. But the Bulls have been a sneaky team all season and had won six of their last eight games, and they weren't a team L.A. could afford to take lightly.
After a close first quarter, Chicago took control in the second quarter, and the Lakers couldn't figure out a remedy. They turned the ball over regularly, partly due to sloppy passing, and it emboldened the young Bulls. The Lakers were only down by three points at halftime, but after that, they got stomped in a stampede.
The Bulls scored an embarrassing 81 points in the second half and kept increasing their lead as time went on. L.A.'s 21 turnovers turned into 27 Bulls points, and the Bulls outscored L.A. 30-12 in fast-break points and 74-42 in points in the paint. They also had 41 assists and shot a sizzling 46.3% from 3-point range, and their bench players combined for 38 points.
It all resulted in a 146-115 loss for the Lakers. This was their worst defensive performance of the season and quite possibly their worst loss overall this year. They have now lost six of their last nine games, and with a 43-27 record, they have fallen to fourth place in the Western Conference.
Dorian Finney-Smith: D
Smith didn't do much offensively in this game. He went 1-of-4 from the field and missed all three of his 3-point attempts, and defensively, he was fairly ineffective while spending a good part of the game in foul trouble.
He finished with two points, two rebounds, one rebound and one steal, but he did have an excellent block on Josh Giddey during a breakaway layup attempt.
Jaxson Hayes: B-minus
The Lakers looked to set up Hayes for easy buckets at the rim — to a fault. This strategy resulted in a large number of their turnovers, but he still managed to score 10 points on 5-of-6 field-goal shooting. He also had four rebounds, two assists and one steal in 25 minutes.
Austin Reaves: A
Somewhat quietly, Reaves scored 25 points while making nine of his 13 shot attempts and adding five assists. It is a sign of how much he has grown just this season that he can score that many points without that many people even noticing.
Luka Doncic: B-plus/A-minus
Doncic was in volcano mode in the first half of this game. He scored 17 points in the first quarter and already had 29 points at halftime on some very hot shooting. He cooled off a bit afterward, but he still finished with 34 points on 10-of-18 overall shooting and 8-of-13 from downtown, to go along with eight rebounds and six assists.
However, he contributed to the Lakers' lack of ball security more than anyone else. He committed seven turnovers, with five of them coming in the first half, often on ill-advised pass attempts where he possibly could've simply taken a shot himself. Teams seem to be having success with pressuring his ball-handling and getting him to lose the basketball off the dribble.
LeBron James: C
In his first game back from a groin strain he suffered two weeks ago, James didn't assert himself much until late in the game. He shot just 2-of-8 in the first half, and while he went 5-of-8 afterward, it wasn't nearly enough.
His stat line of 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes was anemic, and granted, he likely isn't fully in game shape, but he should've put his foot down earlier in the game to prevent it from slipping away when things were still relatively competitive. He also turned the ball over five times to contribute to the Lakers' sloppiness, but he did help them out with three steals.
Gabe Vincent: B
Vincent hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter in an attempt to spark a comeback. They were the only two shots he hit all night, giving him six points plus three rebounds in 19 minutes.
Rui Hachimura: D
In his first game back since getting hurt on Feb. 27, Hachimura was on a minutes restriction off the bench. He hit just two of his six shot attempts and scored five points, to go along with two rebounds and one steal in 18 minutes.
Jarred Vanderbilt: D
In 11 minutes, Vanderbilt made very little of an impact. He missed both of his shot attempts and finished with two rebounds and three turnovers.
Jordan Goodwin: C-plus
Goodwin made just one of his three shot attempts and ended up with four points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 15 minutes.
Dalton Knecht: B
Knecht didn't enter the game until it was out of reach, but when he was on the court, he did fairly well. He made two of his four shot attempts and two of his three attempts from beyond the arc to score six points, to go along with one rebound, one assist and one steal, in seven minutes.
Shake Milton: D
In seven minutes, Milton went 1-of-3 from the floor and ended up with two points, one rebound and one assist.
Alex Len: D
Len didn't attempt a single shot and contributed just one rebound in seven minutes.
Markieff Morris: C
In seven minutes, Morris made one of his two field-goal attempts and had one assist.
Bronny James: D-minus
After his 17-point breakout performance on Thursday, the younger James missed all four of his shot attempts and scored two points on free throws, to go along with one assist, versus Chicago.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. gets stomped on in a Bulls stampede
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