Lakers player grades: L.A. loses to the Knicks in a grind-it-out affair

After a disappointing three-game road trip, the Los Angeles Lakers played their first game at Crypto.com Arena for the first time in nearly two weeks. There, they hosted the New York Knicks with an opportunity to improve on a 15-11 record and move up in the standings.

The Lakers struggled offensively in the first quarter, shooting just 37.0% from the field, while giving up 35 points, leading to them trailing by eight at the end of the period. But a 12-2 run in the final 3:04 of the second quarter gave them a 58-57 lead at halftime. The third quarter looked to be a nip-and-tuck affair until New York went on a spurt that gave it a 90-80 lead with 12 minutes to go.

Multiple times down the stretch, L.A. got to within one or two possessions, but it ultimately didn’t have enough muscle and lost 114-109.

Jalen Brunson ultimately buried the Lakers with 29 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter. But they contributed to their own demise by losing in the effort categories. They shot just 42.4% from the field and 31.7% from 3-point range, and their halfcourt offense looked stagnant and mechanical throughout. Los Angeles also allowed the Knicks to control the tempo, as it had just four fast-break points in the second half.

LeBron James and crew got outscored in the paint by 10 and were outrebounded by nine, while the Knicks had 10 more free throw attempts. That simply isn’t a formula for winning basketball games.

Davis made his impact felt defensively and on the boards early. He had seven rebounds and two blocks while altering additional shots in just the first quarter. After missing three of his first four shots, he got going offensively near the end of the second quarter and hit a jumper just before the horn to give L.A. the lead at halftime.

Overall, he scored 32 points on 14-of-22 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. Including the in-season tournament title game, this was the fourth consecutive contest in which Davis had at least 32 points and 10 rebounds.

Prince was hitting from downtown early in the game, but he turned into a freezer later on. He went 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in the first half, but he was 0-of-6 from that distance afterward. The Lakers’ inability to hit from deep down the stretch was one of many factors in this loss.

Reddish brought some nice defensive activity at times that resulted in three steals for him. But like Prince, he couldn’t connect from the outside. He missed all four of his 3-point attempts and finished just 2-of-9 overall, giving him only four points plus two rebounds and one assist.

Russell hit 3-of-6 from long-range, but overall, he was quiet and ineffective. He scored only nine points on 3-of-10 shooting, to go along with four assists, three rebounds and one steal.

The guard came into this contest averaging just 10.0 points a game while shooting 41.5% from the field and 25.0% from 3-point land in December. The Lakers need a lot more from him on a consistent basis, especially with his name coming up in trade rumors.

James missed seven of his 10 shots in the first half, as he had trouble making shots around the rim. He made his first two shots of the third quarter, and as the fourth quarter wore on, it looked like perhaps he was finding a way to be effective offensively.

He finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, giving him his second triple-double of the season and the 109th of his career. But he shot only 10-of-23 overall and 2-of-8 from downtown, and his inefficiency hurt the Lakers.

He took a questionable 3-pointer off a jump ball with 40.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Lakers down five when it may have been better for him to attack the hoop. But in general, it did seem like New York made him play in a crowd when he got into the paint, and his perimeter game wasn’t there to bring New York out of the paint defensively.

For much of this game, Reaves was the Lakers’ only consistent offensive threat other than Davis. He scored 20 points on 6-of-15 field-goal shooting and 3-of-7 from downtown, with two of his misses coming on desperation treys in the waning seconds.

Reaves also contributed seven assists, three rebounds and one assist in 33 minutes.

Down the stretch, he found himself guarding Brunson quite often down the stretch on defensive switches off ball screens. He wasn’t able to do much to stop Brunson, as it looked like the Knicks guard was looking to hunt Reaves.

In 17 minutes, Hachimura gave the Lakers a bit of a lift with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, two rebounds and two steals. But as was the case with several of his teammates, the team needed more offense from him.

Vanderbilt stopped a fast break in the first half by forcing a Jalen Brunson turnover. But he had to exit late in the third quarter after getting entangled with a Knicks player and feeling pain in his left heel or foot.

He returned in the fourth quarter, but he only played two minutes and change before going out again. He finished with two offensive rebounds and an assist in 14 minutes.

In eight minutes, Hayes grabbed two rebounds and had a highlight dunk on a fast break off a behind-the-back assist from Reaves. But L.A. could’ve used more energy and activity from him.