LeBron James, Anthony Davis rate 76ers in Lakers loss

Well, that’s too bad.

There’s really no way to sugarcoat a nearly 50-point loss like the Lakers’ loss to the 76ers on Monday. You can take a glass-half-full approach and note that the team only had eight players available and had been performing well leading up to this result, but that doesn’t quite mask such a massive loss.

A blowout like this requires two parties to work together. The Lakers are terrible on both ends of the floor, but the 76ers are also shooting at an unsustainable level. Unfortunately for the Lakers, there was no return to the mean in Monday’s 48 minutes, as the 76ers finished with just one 3-pointer, one short of their franchise-record 23 made 3-pointers.

coin.

Let’s grade the damage. As always, results are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the player’s average performance.

Max Christie

Played 26 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 of 6 shots, 0 of 3 three-pointers, -16

It was Christie’s return to reality on Monday. In addition to his offensive struggles, he was largely ineffective defensively, despite facing one of the league’s best defenders this season in Tyrese Maxey.

For him, it’s been the ups and downs you’d expect from a second-year player. For one night, everyone else was having a bad time with him.

Grade: C

LeBron James

Played 30 minutes, 18 points, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, 8 of 12 field goals, 1 of 1 three-pointers, 1 of 2 free throws, -30

This is one of LeBron’s type of games where the numbers look good but his impact isn’t huge. First, many of his shots were completed when the Lakers were already trailing by a big score. He was held without a rebound in both games, marking the first time since 2010 that he was without a rebound in a game.

He just hasn’t played with the energy he has for much of the season, and that’s fine in a vacuum when you’re a 38-year-old starter.

Grade: C-

Anthony Davis

Played 32 minutes, 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, 7 of 14 field goals, 3 of 5 free throws, -13

Ironically, I thought AD was one of the only guys on the Lakers that night who had the necessary level of energy and execution. He was aggressive from the start and set a tone that absolutely no one else followed.

That being said, he’s no longer the defensive monster this year, but he’s matched up with Joel Embiid. His aggressiveness led to two early fouls on Embiid…but that was nothing. That was a great summary of the night.

Grade: B-

Taurus Prince

Played 29 minutes, 11 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, 4 of 8 shots, 3 of 6 three-pointers, -26

Except for the fact that he suddenly couldn’t shoot in the third quarter and the Lakers were in such trouble, Prince’s performance had no impact at all. I don’t really put much trust in a bunch of empty data when the game is already over.

If not for the numerous injuries to wing players, Prince would likely have been benched.

Grade: D

D’Angelo Russell

Played 24 minutes, 12 points, 7 assists and 2 rebounds, 5 of 10 field goals, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 1 of 2 free throws, -8

If you really value plus-minus, DeLo leads the team in that stat tonight. However, if no one finishes with a positive grade, is it just a negative number rather than a plus-minus number?

Regardless, Russell is like many other players. Hollow statistics and a poor level of play along with a porous defense allowed the 76ers to take a huge lead.

Grade: C-

Austin Reeves

Played 29 minutes, 12 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, 4 of 10 field goals, 1 of 4 three-pointers, 3 of 3 free throws, -19

Of all the disappointing Lakers, Reeves’ performance that night stands out the most to me. Maybe it’s because he has the ball more than most, but he just didn’t show it all night.

Again, in a vacuum, that’s no problem. On a night when everyone else is doing this, it’s either bad luck or a sign that the team doesn’t have the right mentality.

Grade: D

Christian Wood

Played 22 minutes, 6 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, 3 of 9 field goals, 0 of 5 three-pointers, -15

Another pretty poor performance from Wood, who has had his share of highs and lows off the bench this year. Maybe it’s time to worry about your three-point shot, too.

In the past nine games, he has shot just 3-for-21 from three-point range, or 14.3%. He’s a career 37.7% shooter, so there could be some positive return, but he’s not in good shape right now.

Grade: D

Jason Hayes

Played 19 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, 3 of 6 shots, 0 of 2 three-pointers, 1 of 1 free throws, -33

The Lakers tried some AD-Hayes lineups in the first half tonight, but the results were very poor. The duo had a net efficiency of -19 in the first half minute. It’s not entirely Hayes’ fault, but too many nights it feels like he just can’t stay on the field against decent teams.

Grade: D-

Jalen Hood-Schifino

11 minutes, 2 assists, 0-3 shooting, 0-2 three-point range, -17

JHS got some rare rotational minutes in the first half. He quickly missed an open 3-pointer, so he fit right in!

It will be interesting to see him get more playing time in a short-handed rotation. He at least provides some defense and another ball-handler to take some of the playmaking load off Austin Reeves.

Grade: C

Maxwell Lewis, Dermoy Hodge, Alex Fudge

The two two-way players saw time today, but overall, they didn’t do much. Hodge hit a three-pointer, Lewis grabbed the rebound, and the two made a total of 3 turnovers. For their sake, I won’t rate garbage time.

No activity on Friday: Jared Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, Cam Reddish, Colin Castleton

You can follow Jacob on Twitter: @Jacobrud.

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