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The Los Angeles Lakers seemed to have absolutely no shot at winning when they came into Ball Arena for Friday night's game against the Denver Nuggets. LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes were already out of action due to injury, and prior to the start of the game, Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent were also ruled out.
A Lakers victory seemed about as unlikely as triple-digit temperatures in Denver — in March.
But they came out and stunned everyone by taking an early lead. They were up 40-34 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 11 points late in the opening period. Denver finally took the lead about midway through the second quarter, and although it went up by double digits in the third quarter, the Lakers fought back to make the final frame very competitive.
They had a 47-39 edge in rebounding and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and only committed nine turnovers on the night, which gave them a shot at victory in the final seconds. But with the score tied at 126-all, Jamal Murray, just as he did twice in last year's playoffs, threw a dagger into their hearts. His 3-pointer with 6.0 seconds left allowed the Nuggets to escape with a 131-126 victory.
L.A. has now lost four games in a row and has fallen to fifth place in the Western Conference with a 40-25 record. While there are no moral victories in sports, one must give the team its flowers for fighting every step of the way and making the Nuggets have to push their RPMs to the red line in order to win.
Vanderbilt gave a nice effort in 24 minutes. He scored nine points on 3-of-6 field-goal shooting, which included a 3-pointer, and grabbed seven rebounds while playing active defense that resulted in three steals. He even notched seven assists, which helped result in the extremely short-handed Lakers getting 32 assists on 49 made baskets.
Len scored two points and made a decent effort to take down five rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass, in 12 minutes.
Goodwin had another impressive game. The 6-foot-5 guard who was recently called up from the G League played 34 minutes and scored 10 points on 4-of-8 overall shooting and 2-of-3 from 3-point range while adding six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Over the last few weeks, he has made a nice impression, and it looks like he has earned himself a spot in head coach JJ Redick's rotation moving forward.
Knecht had to step up tonight with four starters out, and that's exactly what he did. He was aggressive throughout the evening, and he not only looked for the outside shot, which is his specialty, but he also attacked the rim hard. He made 13 of his 27 shot attempts and five of his 13 attempts from downtown, giving him 32 points.
There have been doubts about his real potential and whether he can eventually become a legitimate NBA rotation player, let alone a starter. But this game, as well as his recent play overall, should calm down the concerns some seem to have about his future.
Reaves has made a habit of stepping up his game when James has been out. Last month, he scored a career-high 45 points in a win over the Indiana Pacers when James sat out, and Friday's game was reminiscent of that performance.
From the start, Reaves was in attack mode, not just as a scorer, but also as a facilitator. He scored a dozen points in the first quarter, and he already had 22 points and 10 assists at halftime. On the night, he scored 37 points on 13-of-26 overall shooting, and he also dished off 13 assists and grabbed eight rebounds while even adding four steals.
It is games like this that remind everyone how much better the undrafted guard can become as time moves on.
In a rare appearance off the bench, Morris went 3-of-11 from the field to score seven points and also chipped in five rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes.
Koloko was on the court for 20 minutes versus Denver, and he got plenty of valuable playing time in the fourth quarter. He made the most of this opportunity by playing excellent defense in the paint and protecting the rim fairly well. He made four of his seven shot attempts to score eight points and moved well without the ball, and he also contributed seven rebounds and two assists.
Milton has rarely played when the Lakers have been fairly healthy, but when he has gotten significant playing time, he has often played fairly well. On Friday, he scored 16 points on 7-of-11 from the field in 28 minutes while adding five rebounds, three assists and one steal. He did a good job of attacking off the dribble, and he occasionally shook off his defenders to get good shots in the paint.
The Lakers had no choice but to call up the younger James and give him 16 minutes in this game. He made a 3-pointer with 1:16 left in the first quarter, but he missed each of his other four shot attempts. Other than that, he did help out with two rebounds, two made free throws and one steal.
Reddish got on the court for the first time since Jan. 28. In seven minutes, he missed both of his shot attempts and made no positive contribution on the stat sheet.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. fights hard but loses fourth game in a row
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A Lakers victory seemed about as unlikely as triple-digit temperatures in Denver — in March.
But they came out and stunned everyone by taking an early lead. They were up 40-34 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 11 points late in the opening period. Denver finally took the lead about midway through the second quarter, and although it went up by double digits in the third quarter, the Lakers fought back to make the final frame very competitive.
They had a 47-39 edge in rebounding and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and only committed nine turnovers on the night, which gave them a shot at victory in the final seconds. But with the score tied at 126-all, Jamal Murray, just as he did twice in last year's playoffs, threw a dagger into their hearts. His 3-pointer with 6.0 seconds left allowed the Nuggets to escape with a 131-126 victory.
L.A. has now lost four games in a row and has fallen to fifth place in the Western Conference with a 40-25 record. While there are no moral victories in sports, one must give the team its flowers for fighting every step of the way and making the Nuggets have to push their RPMs to the red line in order to win.
Jarred Vanderbilt: A
Vanderbilt gave a nice effort in 24 minutes. He scored nine points on 3-of-6 field-goal shooting, which included a 3-pointer, and grabbed seven rebounds while playing active defense that resulted in three steals. He even notched seven assists, which helped result in the extremely short-handed Lakers getting 32 assists on 49 made baskets.
Alex Len: B-minus
Len scored two points and made a decent effort to take down five rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass, in 12 minutes.
Jordan Goodwin: A
Goodwin had another impressive game. The 6-foot-5 guard who was recently called up from the G League played 34 minutes and scored 10 points on 4-of-8 overall shooting and 2-of-3 from 3-point range while adding six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Over the last few weeks, he has made a nice impression, and it looks like he has earned himself a spot in head coach JJ Redick's rotation moving forward.
Dalton Knecht: A
Knecht had to step up tonight with four starters out, and that's exactly what he did. He was aggressive throughout the evening, and he not only looked for the outside shot, which is his specialty, but he also attacked the rim hard. He made 13 of his 27 shot attempts and five of his 13 attempts from downtown, giving him 32 points.
There have been doubts about his real potential and whether he can eventually become a legitimate NBA rotation player, let alone a starter. But this game, as well as his recent play overall, should calm down the concerns some seem to have about his future.
Austin Reaves: A
Reaves has made a habit of stepping up his game when James has been out. Last month, he scored a career-high 45 points in a win over the Indiana Pacers when James sat out, and Friday's game was reminiscent of that performance.
From the start, Reaves was in attack mode, not just as a scorer, but also as a facilitator. He scored a dozen points in the first quarter, and he already had 22 points and 10 assists at halftime. On the night, he scored 37 points on 13-of-26 overall shooting, and he also dished off 13 assists and grabbed eight rebounds while even adding four steals.
It is games like this that remind everyone how much better the undrafted guard can become as time moves on.
Markieff Morris: C-plus/B-minus
In a rare appearance off the bench, Morris went 3-of-11 from the field to score seven points and also chipped in five rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes.
Christian Koloko: A-minus
Koloko was on the court for 20 minutes versus Denver, and he got plenty of valuable playing time in the fourth quarter. He made the most of this opportunity by playing excellent defense in the paint and protecting the rim fairly well. He made four of his seven shot attempts to score eight points and moved well without the ball, and he also contributed seven rebounds and two assists.
Shake Milton: A
Milton has rarely played when the Lakers have been fairly healthy, but when he has gotten significant playing time, he has often played fairly well. On Friday, he scored 16 points on 7-of-11 from the field in 28 minutes while adding five rebounds, three assists and one steal. He did a good job of attacking off the dribble, and he occasionally shook off his defenders to get good shots in the paint.
Bronny James: D-plus
The Lakers had no choice but to call up the younger James and give him 16 minutes in this game. He made a 3-pointer with 1:16 left in the first quarter, but he missed each of his other four shot attempts. Other than that, he did help out with two rebounds, two made free throws and one steal.
Cam Reddish: Incomplete
Reddish got on the court for the first time since Jan. 28. In seven minutes, he missed both of his shot attempts and made no positive contribution on the stat sheet.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. fights hard but loses fourth game in a row
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