Grades for LeBron James, Austin Reaves, in Lakers win vs. Wizards

After a long season, one of the fun subplots to close the season has been the unexpected LeBron-Bronny minutes over the last week.

Once purely ceremonial, Bronny has earned his time with decent performances in his recent outings. It seems to have reenergized LeBron during stretches of the game when he could wain and it’s given fans a chance to root on a young player who is showing potential.

And most importantly, those lineups have been good!

Once Marcus Smart returns, Bronny will fall back out of the lineup. And, admittedly, this has been at least partially possible because the Lakers played three of the worst teams in the league during this span. But it’s still allowed Bronny to show his development and earn the coaching staff’s trust.

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.

33 minutes, 21 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 8-16 FG, 1-3 3PT, 4-6 FT, +25

LeBron was feeling awfully spry in this one as he was dunking everything. The beautiful irony of it all coming after he missed the easiest dunk of the night was great too.

26 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 fouls, 6-10 FG, 1-3 3PT, 1-2 FT, +9

A nice game from Rui, who had not scored in double figures since mid-March against the Bulls.

22 minutes, 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers, 5-5 FG, 2-2 FT, +9

Overshadowed a bit by Jaxson Hayes’ big night, Ayton was also perfect from the field. After being a weakness entering the playoffs last year, could the center position actually by a strength enter this postseason?

28 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 3 fouls, 2-3 FG, +23

As much as LaRavia’s offense has fallen off a cliff, he’s still seeing regular minutes because of his effort defensively, which hasn’t been praised enough, including from myself.

27 minutes, 19 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers, 4-11 FG, 0-4 3PT, 11-12 FT, +6

This was a passing display from Reaves, who moved relatively seamlessly into the lead ballhandler role with Luka out.

23 minutes, 19 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 7-10 FG, 4-5 3PT, 1-1 FT, +20

While Austin filled the playmaking void left by Luka, Luke was one of the players who stepped up to fill the scoring void. This was the most confident he looked as a scorer since joining the team.

23 minutes, 4 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1-3 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-4 FT, +5

Vando did what Vando does in this game by being active on the boards, creating a bit of havoc defensively and missing an open corner 3-pointer.

26 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 2-10 FG, 0-5 3PT, 2-2 FT, +4

I think we’ve officially reached the point where Bronny James is better than Dalton Knecht, an insane thing that no one would have believed in Nov., 2024.

20 minutes, 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 foul, 8-8 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-3 FT, +18

Hayes is really shining as the playoffs approach. After a 20-10 game in Indiana, he flirted with the same again off the bench in this one. The Wizards’ frontcourt was also atrocious. I wonder if a talented big man could have a big scoring night against them.

Drew Timme, Dalton Knecht, Kobe Bufkin

Pour one out for Dalton Knecht, who very well may be the sixth or seventh guard on the depth chart.

Redick is coaching the hell out of this team right now. They’re clicking on all cylinders offensively and locking teams down defensively. He’s pushing the right buttons with the rotation.

There has been a lot of talk about the minutes the big three are playing, but they’re going to get a full week off before the playoffs, so I don’t think that’ll matter as much as fans might think.

Monday’s DNPs: Maxi Kleber

Monday’s inactives: Luka Dončić, Marcus Smart, Nick Smith Jr., Adou Thiero, Chris Manon

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