There has been talk in recent days that the Los Angeles Lakers are finally turning the corner. They came into Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bulls with a three-game winning streak and six wins in their last seven games, and they were coming off impressive wins over the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
On Thursday, the Lakers reinforced the sentiment that they’re finally starting to figure things out, although there were a few minor hiccups. An early 10-point lead for them quickly evaporated by the end of the first quarter, and they found themselves down by seven points in the second quarter. But they recovered to take a 67-62 lead at halftime, and for a period of time in the third quarter, they hammered Chicago like a severe winter storm.
Advertisement
Los Angeles went up by 22 points in the period, and the Bulls then cut that lead to a manageable margin. However, L.A. didn’t let this contest get too competitive, and it ended up with a 142-130 victory.
The team’s starters carried it in this game by scoring all but five of its points. No Lakers starter scored fewer than 15 points, and overall, the Lakers shot 55.6% from the field and 47.2% from 3-point range. While Chicago put up 130 points, Los Angeles did force 16 turnovers and turn them into 17 points.
L.A. has now moved into third place in the Western Conference with a 41-25 record, and on Saturday, it will host the 41-26 Denver Nuggets, who are in fifth place. It lost to the Nuggets 120-113 in Colorado just one week ago.
Rui Hachimura: B-plus
Hachimura remained in the Lakers’ starting lineup for this game, presumably because of Smart’s absence. He supplied plenty of scoring punch early with 12 first-half points, and he ended up with 15 points on 6-of-10 field-goal shooting and 3-of-5 from downtown, plus one rebound, one assist and one steal in 40 minutes.
Advertisement
Deandre Ayton: A
Ayton was very active early in this game. He aggressively went after rebounds and loose balls while showing plenty of effort on the defensive end. He had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds in the first half alone, and while his production quieted down considerably afterward, he still ended up with a very strong stat line.
He made 10 of his 13 shot attempts and three of his six free throw attempts, giving him 23 points, and he grabbed 10 rebounds while adding one assist in 37 minutes. While he didn’t block a single shot, his defensive effort in the paint did result in something of an intimidation factor for Chicago.
When Ayton plays like this, he single-handedly raises the Lakers’ ceiling.
Advertisement
Austin Reaves: A
It seems safe to say that Reaves has found his groove and returned to a peak level of production about a month after returning from the gastrocnemius strain that cost him several weeks.
He started off slowly on Thursday with just three points in the first quarter, but he came at the Bulls in waves afterward. He had a solid 17 points through three quarters, and he then scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to help repel the Bulls’ efforts to get back into this game. He was very efficient, and he again had a good distribution of shots throughout all three levels of the court.
Reaves finished with 30 points and shot 13-of-20 overall and 4-of-7 from 3-point land, and he also had five rebounds, seven assists and one steal. He didn’t attempt a single free throw in this contest, but it didn’t seem to matter.
Advertisement
LeBron James: B
James didn’t take a single shot in the first quarter. He didn’t make his first shot until there were 54 seconds left in the second quarter, and he was 1-of-5 from the field with three points and three turnovers to finish the first half. He started to get himself going in the second half with 11 points in the third quarter, and he was aggressive enough in the second half to help the Lakers make sure this game didn’t get out of hand.
By making seven of his 13 shot attempts and four of his six free throw attempts, James scored 18 points. He also contributed seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block in 33 minutes.
Luka Doncic: A-plus
When the Lakers defeated the Bulls on Jan. 26, Doncic had 46 points, which nearly tied his season high of 49 points, which he set in the second game of the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Thursday, he was even more lethal.
Advertisement
He was 4-of-11 in the first quarter, but he did have seven rebounds during that period. He started to find the range in the second quarter and logged 24 points by halftime, and for much of the final three quarters, he was in volcano mode.
The Slovenian converted 17 of his 31 shot attempts, nine of his 14 3-point tries and eight of his nine free throw attempts, giving him a season-high 51 points. This was the first time he hit the half-century mark since his memorable 73-point outing on Jan. 26, 2024. If his efficient 51 points weren’t impressive enough, he just missed a triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine assists, and he even added three steals and one block.
Luke Kennard: D
This was a rough outing for Kennard. He missed each of his first five shot attempts, and he ended up going 1-of-7 from the floor and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc, limiting him to three points in 20 minutes. He did, however, chip in one rebound, three assists, two steals and one block.
Advertisement
Jake LaRavia: D
Yet again, LaRavia had trouble finding the basket. He missed all three of his shot attempts and went scoreless, and he has been passing up a decent number of decent looks in recent games. In 21 minutes, he did contribute three rebounds, three assists and one block.
Jarred Vanderbilt: D
Vanderbilt got nearly 10 minutes of playing time in this game, but it was hard to tell he was on the court. He was scoreless and didn’t attempt a single field goal or free throw, and he ended up with two rebounds and one assist.
Drew Timme: Incomplete
Timme made a cameo appearance for 3:48 of this contest, and he made one basket while obtaining two rebounds.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: Luka Doncic scores 51 in victory over Bulls