Lakers player grades: Hornets beat LA in stunning blowout

ballervisions 2026年1月16日

After an impressive and easy 141-116 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers host the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday. The Hornets came into this game with a record of 14-26, so, many thought that another win was coming for the Lakers.

Instead, it turned into an unacceptable and embarrassing alternative.

As they did on Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks, the Lakers got off to a fast start on Thursday. They led by 13 points in the first quarter, but went cold again in the second half and trailed 77-62 early in the third. Los Angeles has had a lot of trouble stopping the Hornets from scoring near the rim, and rebounding has been an issue as well.

The team couldn’t solve any of its problems in time to make a real run, as it fell to the Hornets, 135-117.

LA allowed the Hornets to shoot 54.3% overall and 46.5% from 3-point range, and were outrebounded 50-35. Former All-Star guard LaMelo Ball scored 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting and 9-of-17 from 3-point range while dishing out 11 assists.

The Lakers will head north to play the Portland Trail Blazers, another sub-.500 team that will be tougher than their record might suggest, on Saturday, before returning home to face the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. They will then begin an eight-game road trip on Tuesday.

Marcus Smart: D

Smart didn’t do enough offensively, and he didn’t do enough to slow down the Hornets on the defensive end. He finished with 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 32 minutes.

Jake LaRavia: B-plus

LaRavia could have done more defensively, like many, if not all, of his teammates, but offensively, he did enough. He made five of his 10 field goal attempts, three of his four three-point attempts and all five of his free throw attempts for 18 points, making him the Lakers’ third leading scorer in the game. He also had three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 37 minutes.

Deandre Ayton: C

The Lakers didn’t get Ayton the basketball often enough in this game, and as a result, he didn’t give them enough production. In 32 minutes, he went 6-of-10 from the field and scored 12 points while adding six rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

LeBron James: A

James had another superstar-type game at the age of 41 despite having a quiet first half. He scored 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting, 3-of-6 from downtown and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, to go along with nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block. 19 of his 29 points came in the second half when he tried to engineer, but to no avail.

Luka Doncic: A-minus

Doncic had 19 points in the first quarter, but only took one shot and scored in the second quarter. He continued his onslaught with 15 points in the third quarter, finishing with 39 points on 15-of-26 shooting from the field and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.

However, the rest of his game was lacking. He attempted just seven free throws, and had just three rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes.

Rui Hachimura: D

In his second game back from a calf injury, Hachimura did not participate. He got 18 minutes of playing time off the bench and made one of four short attempts, giving him three points, along with one rebound, one assist and one block.

Gabe Vincent: F

In 15 minutes, Vincent went 0-of-5 from downtown and missed all of his seven shooting attempts, and he couldn’t provide enough resistance at the defensive end. He scored and had only one rebound.

Jarred Vanderbilt: B

Vanderbilt contributed strongly with five rebounds and six points on 3-of-4 shooting in 15 minutes of playing time.

Kobe Bufkin: C

Bufkin entered the game with 3:42 left in the first quarter, and ended up getting 17 total minutes on the field. He grabbed three rebounds and added one steal and one block, but missed both of his field goal attempts.