Player Grades: Lakers vs. Jazz

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 138-122 win over the Jazz.

The Lakers were short their ace LeBron James against the Utah Jazz, but they took care of business and secured the win thanks to a career night from Rui Hachimura and an All-Star performance by Anthony Davis.

The Jazz stayed in the game, but the Lakers maintained control for most of the matchup and came out with a much-needed win. The Lakers will go into the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak.

So, let’s grade the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

Rui Hachimura

34 minutes, 36 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 13-19 FG, 6-8 3PT, 4-5 FT, +25

This was a career night for Hachimura and my goodness, did the Lakers need it. Hachimura was supreme for the Lakers, scoring 36 points and converting on six 3-pointers.

It wasn’t just the numbers, it was the aggression that kept the Lakers in the game. Particularly in the first half when his 20 points helped the Lakers enter the break with a one-point lead.

Hachimura, along with Davis, did something in the regular season no Lakers duo has done since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, which was scoring 35 plus points each in a game.

With all of that context, there is nothing you can do but give Hachimura the highest grade possible.

Grade: A+

Anthony Davis

38 minutes, 37 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 13-25 FG, 1-3 3PT, 10-13 FT, +24

Davis led the team in points, rebounds, free throws, blocks and minutes played. He did everything but valet cars outside to help the Lakers get to where they wanted to go on Wednesday.

If I had to use one word to describe his performance, it would be dominant. In the third quarter, when the Jazz took a brief lead, he became a ferocious hammer pounding away in the paint, scoring ten consecutive points to put the Lakers back in control.

Without that offensive flurry and his defensive quarterbacking throughout the game, the Lakers don’t leave Utah with a win. Davis is having arguably his best regular season as a Laker and tonight was a prime example of why he is so elite.

Grade: A+

Taurean Prince

33 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4-8 FG, 1-2 3PT, 2-2 FT, +11

With James out, Prince was back in the starting lineup. It went as you would have expected. The Lakers didn’t get an awful game from Prince, but it was underwhelming. The defense didn’t stand out and his offense was just okay. He was smart with his shot selection and didn’t interrupt the team’s flow.

Prince is better suited on the bench and while today that wasn’t an option, this game made it clear he should only be starting when the team is short-handed.

Grade: C

D’Angelo Russell

33 minutes 11 points, 9 rebounds, 17 assists, 1 steal, 4-8 FG, 0-1 3PT, 3-3 FT, +9

Russell was the distributor for the team tonight with a whopping 17 assists. He stayed aggressive in the pick-and-roll with Davis and with the ball in his hands, he kept the Lakers offense humming along, resulting in a 138-point night for Los Angeles.

A few more points would’ve been nice, but then again, Davis and Hachimura were going off, so maybe it was best he just kept distributing the ball and kept those guys going.

Grade: B+

Austin Reaves

34 minutes, 22 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 9-13 FG, 3-5 3PT, 1-1 FT, +22

Remember when Reaves was on the bench and that felt like the right move, given his play early in the season? Well, he’s found his groove and has been playing very well recently.

He’s balancing scoring and deferring to the stars and with him and Russell starting, the backcourt is as talented as ever and winning games.

He shot 69% from the field, had a team-high three steals and seven assists. Asking more from Reaves would be greedy and unrealistic. He was great on Wednesday.

Grade: B+

Spencer Dinwiddie

28 minutes, 10 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4-6 FG, 2-4 3PT, +9

Dinwiddie led the Lakers in scoring off of the bench. He had a couple of nice drives to the rim and a couple of deep threes to give the Lakers an offensive spark when they needed it.

A quick break and some more reps with this team and, hopefully, his comfort level will only continue to improve.

Grade: B

Christian Wood

16 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1-5 FG, 0-4 3PT, +2

Wood was underwhelming tonight failing to make an impact on either side of the floor. He has been hit or miss the past couple of weeks and against the Jazz, he was mediocre at best. Not many other bigs the Lakers can go to, so hopefully, he finds a groove after the All-Star break.

Grade: C-

Jaxson Hayes

12 minutes, 4 points, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2-2 FG, -2

Hayes has been great recently, but on Wednesday he was a turnstile on defense and absent on offense. Thank goodness for Davis’ performance because the other bigs left a lot to be desired.

Grade: C-

Dylan Windler, Skylar Mays, Colin Castleton

Just garbage minutes for Castleton and Mays against the Jazz. Windler had one brief stint that was underwhelming and I didn’t feel it was enough to give a grade for.

Wednesday’s inactives: Max Christie, Jalen Hood-Schifino, LeBron James, Maxwell Lewis, Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.