Player Grades: Lakers vs. Wolves

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 116-104 Game 3 loss to the Wolves.

Feeling like a team gave a game away at any point in the season is rough. But doing so in the playoffs feels like a complete gut punch.

When JJ Redick came into the season, he spoke about creating margins for the team to win games on. Friday was a glowing example of how to lose a game on the margins.

The Lakers committed 16 turnovers leading to 28 points for Minnesota. They missed seven free throws, something that felt a lot more damaging before the Wolves’ final onslaught to close the game, as it was a one- or two-possession game much of the night.

The result is feeling like the Lakers gave one away. And considering how important a Game 3 is when the series is tied at 1-1, this one felt like a particularly crushing one to lose.

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

Rui Hachimura

38 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3-7 FG, 2-4 3PT, -19

If there’s one takeaway I have from Rui this series, it’s how fantastic he’s been defensively. He’s defending so many different players and doing an admirable job on them. He’s fighting underneath and doing lots of dirty work.

Would you have liked him to knock down a couple more shots? Yes. He probably needs to score in double figures nightly this series.

But he provided plenty of value on the other end, which is a far cry from where things were against Denver last season.

Grade: B+

LeBron James

41 minutes, 38 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 13-21 FG, 5-9 3PT, 7-10 FT, -10

It felt like LeBron realized from the jump that he was going to have to step up because Luka Dončić wasn’t going to be right in this one, and that he did. Part of why this loss also feels crushing is, on top of feeling like they gave the game away, the Lakers also got a huge LeBron performance.

And none of that even includes his work defensively, which remains incredible.

Does he have another game like this in him this series? The Lakers might need it.

Grade: A+

Jaxson Hayes

As much as anyone might think Jaxson should play more this series, he’s done nothing in the last two games to show on the court that he warrants more minutes. At this point, the move for the Lakers might be just starting small.

With Gobert on the floor, there isn’t as much of a runway for him to attack as a roll man and he’s too slow to react defensively. It’s hard to make any argument for him to get more minutes than the nine he got on Friday.

Austin Reaves

41 minutes, 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 7-18 FG, 5-11 3PT, 1-2 FT, -16

Easily Austin’s best game of the series. However, it also felt like a game he started strong and faded in the second half and fourth quarter.

The Lakers needed a bit more out of him on Friday with Luka less than 100%. He delivered that for half the game, but struggled to make an impact late. He also had a couple of frustrating turnovers and needs to get to the line more.

Grade: B-

Luka Dončić

40 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 6-16 FG, 2-8 3PT, 3-4 FT, -16

Well, how do you grade a player who clearly didn’t have it due to illness but tried to soldier on. For large chunks of this game, it felt like Luka was doing more harm than good.

Ridiculous 3-pointers at the end of the second and third quarters made that stat line look a little better. He also came to life more for a period in the fourth. But he was very far from his typical self. And it was a brutal night for that to happen.

Grade: C

Dorian Finney-Smith

29 minutes, 8 points, 1 rebounds, 2 assists, 3-6 FG, 2-4 3PT, +3

One of only a few Lakers with a positive plus-minus, DFS had a mixed night. In the first half, he got himself in foul trouble and was forced to the bench. He was better in the second half and knocked down a clutch corner 3-pointer.

Grade: C+

Gabe Vincent

16 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2-3 FG, 1-2 3PT, -3

Gabe knocked down a big 3-pointer and got to the rim on a finish for his only baskets. He’s a steady hand off the bench but with Luka hampered, they really could have used flamethrower Gabe and not this version.

Grade: C-

Jarred Vanderbilt

13 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 1-1 FG, 1-2 FT, +5

Vando is a chaotic player and the Lakers saw both ends of that in Game 3.

In the first half, he was chaotic good, creating havoc underneath the basket, getting stops under the rim and doing the energy and hustle stuff that fans love. In the third quarter, he was bad chaotic, losing the ball under the basket, fouling players unnecessarily and giving away points in a close game.

His grade depends on how much you weigh the good of one half with the bad of the third.

Grade: C+

Jordan Goodwin

12 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1-3 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-2 FT, +9

One of the few bright spots on the night was Goodwin’s performance. After two lackluster games in the series, he made a number of winning plays in this one, including forcing a jump ball on a ridiculous play on Anthony Edwards.

Grade: A-

Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, Shake Milton, Alex Len

This group saw the floor for the final 38 seconds of the game.

JJ Redick

I think a lineup change will and has to come for Game 4. There’s not much of a point of putting Hayes out there for ceremonial minutes to open each quarter. He’s clearly disengaged at this point and the team was -13 in his nine minutes.

For Friday, it felt like the Lakers lost the game on the court. From a gameplan perspective, it felt like the team had the right one in place. It was execution that let them down.

He let Goodwin and Vando get some extra minutes in the second when they were playing well and then pulled the plug on the latter in the second half and let the former stay on the floor. After a poor Game 1, I think he and the coaching staff have had solid games back-to-back.

It was the players who lost this game more than the coaches.

Grade: B+

Friday’s DNPs: Markieff Morris

Friday’s inactives: Maxi Kleber

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