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Scores for Anthony Davis and LeBron James in the Lakers' loss to the Pistons

Scores for Anthony Davis and LeBron James in the Lakers' loss to the Pistons

5 minutes, 32 seconds Read

Simply put, this was an absolutely pathetic performance from the Lakers.

Los Angeles' heart and effort were not up to the standard of a basketball team with postseason aspirations, let alone championship aspirations.

The Pistons bench dominated the Lakers backups 27-10 and LA was outrebounded by Detroit 55-37. The 12-point loss doesn't illustrate how poorly the team performed, but these individual scores will try to prove that.

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

Anthony Davis

39 minutes, 37 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 13-23 FG, 0-4 3PT, 11-14 FT, -1

There is a lot of blame for this defeat, but nothing. AD is not one of the players who needs to be held accountable.

Once again he was great, scoring 37 points and putting in top performance on both ends of the floor. He injured his ankle in the fourth quarter and seemed very concerned about it, but refused to leave the game.

He played the rest of the game and showed tremendous heart and courage to overcome his discomfort and try to make a comeback.

If half of the team had shown the level of care and passion that AD displayed on Monday night, this would have been a stunning victory. They are ashamed that his efforts were in vain.

Grade: A+

Rui Hachimura

35 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2-6 FG, 2-2 3PT, 2-2 FT, -7

Have we all fallen in love with a Hachimura that doesn't exist?

In the final games, he showed off his bad traits from last year – like his suspect defense – and less of his good traits from the first few games, like his ability to attack the basket and crash the boards.

The Lakers have a lot of problems with their bench unit, but tonight you can add Rui to the players who disappointed.

Since he played 35 minutes, he needs to get a little better at everything to ensure that playing time on this team.

Grade: C-

LeBron James

40 minutes, 20 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 7-16 FG, 1-2 3PT, 5-5 FT, -16

Okay, what's wrong with LeBron? I understand that I am sick. Is he adjusting his pace at the start of the season? Secure. That's not it.

This is a terrible performance from one of the few players who is legitimately considered the greatest basketball player of all time.

Monday night was not an example of Father Time catching up with the King. It was a middle finger to the basketball gods.

Lazy fadeaway jumpers for no reason, sloppy turnovers that were so bad even LeBron didn't act like it was anyone else's fault, and a defensive performance that would make D'Angelo Russell blush.

Do better, LeBron. I know you can.

Grade: F

D'Angelo Russell

33 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 4-14 FG, 2-5 3PT, 1-2 FT, -1

The aggression was there and that's a good thing, but the execution was missing from Russell's game. He missed so many layups near the rim that it was almost impressive.

He still needs to find his rhythm this season and the Lakers could have used some good D'Lo play to get out of this slump.

Grade: C

Austin Reaves

39 minutes, 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 7-17 FG, 3-10 3PT, 0-1 FT, -14

At least Reaves tried tonight.

Was it effective? Not really, but he always looked for his chance and never gave up. Normally that's to be expected, but in this competition it's nothing short of admirable.

His biggest highlight was making a jump stop to complain about a call to the referee and having a technician do it.

The foul was missed, but he also overplayed it, so I don't care and we won't see any reports of those mistakes in this defeat.

Grade: C

Cam Reddish

14 minutes, 0 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, +10

Even Pat Riley's sophomore player will be forced to use Cam Reddish if he gets this roster.

Reddish played well and delivered a much better defensive performance than anyone else in the outfield, but the fact that he had to play and looked better than the other options says more about the Lakers than it does about him.

Somewhere Darvin Ham is smiling tonight.

Grade: B+

Gabe Vincent

18 minutes, 0 points, 1 steal, -5

Send Vincent to whoever will take him. I'm done.

Grade: F

Jaxson Hayes, Max Christie, Dalton Knecht

None of these players made it past the nine-minute mark in time played, so there are no grades tonight. Here are a few thoughts on why this is and what it means for the future.

For Hayes, it was probably just a fluke given how the game went. Additionally, he delivered nothing defensively and his best offensive play involved missing shots near the rim and holding on to them until he scored.

Knecht should have gotten a lot more run. He's a great shooter and could have maybe jump-started this team. He scored five points and was 2-2 from the field. I understand that newbies need to gain trust, but look who you trust now.

It's not a good sign that Christie went from averaging 17 minutes per game to just four minutes against the Pistons. He didn't play well, which may be why he didn't play much last year. His finishing at the rim is poor and his 3-point shooting is below average. It's still early, but this is worrying.

JJ Redick

Redick should have called a timeout earlier in the game. He did it after the Pistons' 9-0 run and they were already on the rise by that point.

I also don't like the reaction to Christie's piece and the dramatic change. It feels too soon and confidence and confidence needs to be built in young players. In another week, sure, but in the moment it felt unnecessary and, more importantly, it didn't result in a win.

There have been a few games during this road trip where the Lakers have had some rough patches and Redick needs to get them to be sharper early in games. Had they done that, they wouldn't have fallen behind by 20 in the first half and would have spent the rest of the game trying to erase that deficit.

Grade: C

DNP from Monday: Bronny James

Inactive on Monday: Jalen Hood-Schifino, Maxwell Lewis, Christian Koloko, Quincy Olivari, Armel Traore, Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.

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