Lakers player grades: L.A. defeats Hawks for sixth win in a row

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers managed to defeat a very tough Detroit Pistons team by a final score of 121-116 despite Luka Doncic sitting out due to low back tightness. When they faced the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, Doncic was back in action, but Austin Reaves, who scored 43 points on Sunday, didn't play due to an illness, while wing Quentin Grimes was ruled out due to a right finger sprain. After trailing 17-9 early, the Lakers turned it on and ended the first quarter on top 31-22. Their lead got as large as 20 points in the second quarter, and while they lost some overall steam in the second half and allowed Atlanta to make things close, they had enough firepower to close out the game in satisfactory fashion. Los Angeles ended up with a 124-114 win, giving them a six-game winning streak and a 10-2 record, which is the best record in the NBA. The team had three players score over 20 points, and overall, it shot 52.9% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range. The Purple and Gold also forced Atlanta into 20 turnovers and scored 29 points off those turnovers. Jake LaRavia: C For the second game in a row, LaRavia was quiet. He made two of his six shot attempts, giving him four points, to go along with three rebounds, three assists and one steal in 32 minutes. Matisse Thybulle: B-minus Thybulle helped space the floor for Los Angeles by going 2-of-5 from 3-point range, with all five of his field-goal attempts coming from behind the arc. He scored six points and helped out on the defensive end with three steals and one block while adding one assist. Walker Kessler: A Kessler converted eight of his 12 shot attempts to score 20 points, although he missed half of his six free throw attempts. He also obtained 10 rebounds and added one steal and one block. One pleasant surprise with Kessler has been his passing. For the second straight game, he had four assists, and while he isn't quite Nikola Jokic in that department, he's capable of making proper passes in certain situations to help his teammates get good looks. Ziaire Williams: A Williams was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Oct. 27, and he responded with a nice effort. He made five of his 10 shot attempts and two of his five 3-point tries, and he had back-to-back fast-break dunks to start the third quarter and put the Lakers ahead by 15 points. He scored 12 points, and he also chipped in two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Luka Doncic: A-minus Doncic was quiet, at least by his standards, in the first half. He scored 14 points and shot 4-of-10 from the field, although he did have eight assists during that time. But he scored 14 points in the last 7:05 of the third quarter to help thwart a comeback attempt by Atlanta. On the night, he shot 11-of-22 from the field and made all seven of his free throw attempts, and while he was just 3-of-11 from downtown, he still mustered 32 points. This ended a streak of five consecutive games with at least 40 points, but he was still his usual very impactful self across the board. Doncic dropped 10 dimes, got eight rebounds and also came up with five steals and two blocks, evidence of his newfound commitment to the defensive end. He did commit six turnovers, but overall, he is still looking like arguably the best basketball player in the world these days. Collin Sexton: A With Reaves out, the Lakers needed Sexton to step up offensively, and that's exactly what he did. He helped spark the Lakers in the first half with 12 points, and he ended up with 18 points on 6-of-11 field-goal shooting and 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc, although he missed half of his six free throw attempts. Sexton was also second on the team with six assists while committing just one turnover in 27 minutes, and he also contributed two rebounds and one steal. For the second night in a row, he was about as good as advertised, if not better. Sandro Mamukelashvili: A This was by far Mamukelashvili's best game thus far as a member of the Lakers. He was aggressive in looking for his shot throughout the night, and he hit five 3-pointers in eight attempts, allowing him to shoot 7-of-13 overall. He scored a season-high 23 points, and he also secured eight rebounds while adding three assists, one steal and one block. Jarred Vanderbilt: C-plus In 13 minutes, Vanderbilt helped out by making both of his shot attempts to score four points, grabbing two rebounds and coming up with one steal and one block. Adou Thiero: B-minus Thiero got seven minutes of playing time in this game, and he scored two points while chipping in two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Cameron Carr: B-minus Carr played seven minutes in this game, and he scored his first NBA points on a fast-break jam in the first quarter. He also grabbed three rebounds.