The Los Angeles Lakers returned home from a quick and successful two-game road trip to face a revitalized Miami Heat team on Sunday. The Heat came in ranked first in pace and second in fast-break points per game, and they looked capable of giving the Lakers a handful to deal with.
But the Lakers burst out of the gates and scored the first eight points of the game. They established a double-digit lead in the first quarter and led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter, and while Miami outscored them by 10 in the third quarter, it never really seemed like they lost control of this game.
Thanks to a balanced offensive attack, Los Angeles was able to keep up with the pace and end up with a 130-120 win, giving it a three-game winning streak and a 5-2 record. It had six players score in double figures, and three men reached at least 25 points, while as a whole, the team shot 50.5% from the field and only committed 11 turnovers.
The Lakers will hit the court again on Monday when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers, a team they lost to last Monday, before returning home to face Victor Wembanyama and the surging San Antonio Spurs.
Rui Hachimura: B-plus
Hachimura continues to pick up the offensive slack with LeBron James out due to sciatica. He hit half of his 12 shot attempts and went 3-of-5 from 3-point range on Sunday to score 15 points, and he also got six rebounds and had two assists in 31 minutes. His mid-range jumper has been on point, and he has been hot from 3-point land to start the season.
Jaxson Hayes: A-minus
Starting center Deandre Ayton was ruled out prior to the opening tip due to back spasms, which made Hayes the starting 5 for this game. He came out red-hot offensively and scored 11 points in the first quarter, and he ended up making all seven of his field-goal attempts for the game.
Hayes finished with 15 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 32 minutes. He even hit a 3-pointer, which was his first in three seasons and his first as a member of the Lakers.
Marcus Smart: B-plus
Smart not only helped the Lakers out on the defensive end, but he also stretched the floor on Sunday. He scored 11 points and hit three of his seven 3-point attempts, while adding four assists, three rebounds, two steals and one block in 27 minutes.
His one block was a spectacular one, as it came on a chasedown attempt while running back in transition to challenge a layup by Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Austin Reaves: B-minus
After starting the season scorching-hot, Reaves has now shot poorly in three consecutive games. He went 9-of-22 from the field and 4-of-14 from 3-point range, but he helped make up for that with 11 assists. He was able to score a strong 26 points, and in his spare time, he chipped in four rebounds.
Luka Doncic: B
Doncic struggled with his shooting early, as he missed five of his first six shot attempts. He shot well in the second and fourth quarters, but overall, he was just 9-of-22, and he particularly struggled from downtown, as he missed all but one of his 11 attempts from that distance.
But Doncic did come up with a triple-double by finishing with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, while also adding three steals in 38 minutes. He did, however, have five turnovers, so that is something he will need to clean up moving forward.
Jake LaRavia: A-plus
LaRavia is starting to look like an incredible bargain for Los Angeles. The forward, who signed for two years and $12 million over the summer, went 10-of-13 overall and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc to score 25 points, and he also helped out on the boards with eight rebounds. In 35 minutes of playing time, LaRavia also came up with three assists and four steals.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B
In 10 minutes, Vanderbilt made a decent contribution with four points, four rebounds and one steal.
Dalton Knecht: C-minus
Knecht played a dozen minutes and made one of his four shot attempts, which was a 3-pointer. That was his only statistical contribution in this game.
Bronny James: B-minus/C-plus
The younger James unexpectedly got 18 minutes in this game. He threw down an alley-oop dunk on a fast break to score his first points of the season, and it was his only made field goal in four attempts. He did contribute two assists and three steals while finishing with no turnovers to help L.A.’s cause.