Lakers player grades: Anthony Davis’ strong night not enough vs. Joel Embiid, Sixers

The Los Angeles Lakers Thursday lost to the Philadelphia 76ers on the road, 105-87.

The outcome for L.A. looked bleak because LeBron James was ruled out prior to tip-off with a sore left knee. The Lakers needed Anthony Davis to have a big game paired with a flawless game from the role players to stand a chance against Joel Embiid and company.

One of those things happened: Davis had a tremendous two-way game. The role players did not have a flawless game.

As a team, the Lakers shot 6-of-29 (21.4%) from 3-point range to highlight one example.

Here is how the Lakers, now 24-25 on the season, graded individually after the loss:

Russell Westbrook: C-plus

The Sixers put standout defender Matisse Thybulle on Russell Westbrook, and the Lakers guard struggled in that matchup. But otherwise, he saw some success. Westbrook put up 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with four rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block but turned it over six times. He did hit 2-of-3 shots from downtown, so he was one of the better Lakers on the night behind Davis.

Malik Monk: D

Malik Monk’s shot abandoned him this game. After an efficient 22-point night against the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday, Monk shot 3-of-13 overall for 11 points against Philly. He had a 1-of-6 clip from deep, but he helped in other areas: five assists, four rebounds, two steals. A better game from him likely gives the Lakers a better chance at winning, but now he’ll need to turn up against his former team Friday in Charlotte.

Avery Bradley: F

Avery Bradley played 26 minutes but didn’t make a significant impact on either end of the floor. He had two points on the night.

Stanley Johnson: C-minus

Stanley Johnson’s shot also abandoned him tonight. He shot 1-of-6 overall and missed all three of his 3s for a two-point night; Embiid blocked one of them. However, he chipped in seven rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal in his minutes that bumped his grade.

Anthony Davis: A-plus

In just his second game back from injury, Davis reminded everyone just how dominant he can be when on the court. He posted 31 points on 14-of-21 shooting to go with 12 rebounds, four blocks, two steals and one assist. He played better than Embiid, but it’ll go overlooked because of the result. Still, the Lakers get to add LeBron to this version of AD, and that bodes well for the franchise moving forward.

Carmelo Anthony: D-minus

Carmelo Anthony had a game to forget. He struggled with his shot (4-of-11 overall, 1-of-4 from deep) and was pretty nonexistent on the defensive end as well. Not much to take away from his performance other than he needs to bounce back against Charlotte.

Austin Reaves: D

Austin Reaves had some positive moments, but he was just out-sized in this game. He missed all four of his attempts, including three triples, and finished with a minus-16 on the night. That was the second-worst rating on the team, so the undrafted rookie will need to watch the tape and improve for next time.

Talen Horton-Tucker: F

Talen Horton-Tucker had another bad shooting game. He went 2-of-8 overall for seven points. His moves to get open were clean, but he just failed to execute. He had a team-low minus-23 rating in a game where his scoring was needed. He’ll also need to improve for the next contest, but Horton-Tucker has recently put up some bad numbers.

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