Player Grades: Lakers vs. Spurs

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 125-109 win over the Spurs.

It’s been a while since the Lakers could string together comfortable wins, especially without LeBron James. But led by Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, the Lakers reeled off back-to-back wins where they were largely in control throughout the contest.

On Monday, it was Reaves who did the heavy lifting. But he wasn’t alone as the team continues to show how many quality role players they have. Jordan Goodwin, Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, Jaxson Hayes and even Jarred Vanderbilt are tone-setters and do that nightly.

It doesn’t always show up in the stat line — though, ironically, it largely did Monday — but their importance can’t be overstated. As much as Luka and Austin are leading the way, all of those guys are pulling them along as well.

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

Jordan Goodwin

33 minutes, 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 6-9 FG, 3-6 3PT, +9

One night after head coach JJ Redick made an impassioned case about not judging players like Goodwin based on their box score, Goodwin made it a lot easier to judge his game with a good box score.

He knocked down some open threes, but his four stocks are the perfect example of the type of impact he makes nightly.

Grade: A

Dorian Finney-Smith

28 minutes, 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 5-12 FG, 4-8 3PT, 1-2 FT, +13

Finally, DFS had a solid statistical night. It’s hard to continue to make the argument for him as a winning player if he’s in a shooting slump. The four 3-pointers are tied for his most since the team’s win in Madison Square Garden.

Grade: A

Jaxson Hayes

28 minutes, 9 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3-5 FG, 3-4 FT, +21

Imagine going back to January of 2024 and telling a Lakers fan that in 14 months, Jaxson Hayes will be the team’s starting center and one of the most important players on the roster.

What a wild ride we’ve had.

Grade: B+

Austin Reaves

36 minutes, 30 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 12-21 FG, 5-13 3PT, 1-1 FT, +18

After some pretty bad games initially once he returned from injury, Reaves is fully back in form now. On Monday, he had defenders dancing all game long.

As many hoped would be the case, this time without LeBron has helped Luka and Austin gel together.

Grade: A

Luka Dončić

34 minutes, 21 points, 9 rebounds, 14 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 5-20 FG, 1-7 3PT, 10-13 FT, +19

As long as you don’t look at any of his shooting stats, this was an awesome night Luka. He set teammates up all night long, flirted with a triple-double and jumped passing lanes for some steals.

Fortunately, the Lakers are in a place where, without LeBron, their superstar can go 5-20 and they win by double digits.

Grade: B+

Gabe Vincent

28 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 4-6 FG, 3-5 3PT, +9

A standard Vincent game at this point, which you will take every time. It’s really good news that Vincent has become reliable this season after such a rocky first year in LA.

Grade: B+

Dalton Knecht

20 minutes, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 4-10 FG, 2-7 3PT, 3-4 FT, -5

While many might have thought, myself included, that the rescinded trade could potentially derail a rookie season for Knecht that was already slowing to a halt, it has instead lit a fire under him.

In fact, since the trade deadline, Knecht is averaging 9.9 points on 46.2% shooting overall and 37.8% from range. He’s gone from out of the rotation to a dependable piece again.

Grade: B-

Jarred Vanderbilt

15 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1-2 FG, -2

I thought Vando was pretty unlucky to be ejected as it felt like a pretty standard scuffle that should have led to no ejections.

At the same time, save for a few highlight reel plays, Vando struggled to make an impact on Monday.

Grade: C-

Christian Koloko, Bronny James, Shake Milton

None of these guys reached 10 minutes, but shoutout to Bronny for fashion his late 3-poitner.

JJ Redick

I can’t speak highly enough about how this team approaches games now and how much that is a testament to Redick.

He’s pushing all the right buttons with the team right now and has them refocused, re-energized and winning games again.

Grade: A-

Monday’s DNPs: Alex Len, Markieff Morris, Cam Reddish

Monday’s inactives: Maxi Kleber, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, Trey Jemison III

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.