Lakers player grades: Austin Reaves leads L.A. past the 76ers

The Los Angeles Lakers were away from home for a couple weeks due to an eight-game road trip, and they had to deal with some awful, icy weather back East during that time. But on Thursday, they returned home to the Southland and were greeted by summer-like temperatures as they prepared to host the Philadelphia 76ers.

The 76ers came in on a five-game winning streak, and for much of Thursday's game, it looked like that streak would continue.

The Lakers came out flat and sloppy in the first quarter, committing seven turnovers and falling behind by as many as 11 points. They trailed 59-51 at halftime due in part to 13 first-half turnovers, but late in the third quarter, they finally came alive and got back into the game.

They pulled to within 87-85 at the end of the period, and they started the fourth quarter with a 15-4 run to finally take control. Los Angeles went ahead 110-94 with just over four minutes to go, only to see Philly pull to within two points with 27 seconds left. But time ran out on Philly, and L.A. had itself a 119-115 victory.

L.A. allowed Joel Embiid to continue his recent hot streak and light it up from mid-range en route to 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting. But it managed to hold All-Star starter Tyrese Maxey in check enough, and the Sixers were just 6-of-21 from 3-point range. The Lakers had a 41-28 edge in rebounding, which helped offset the damage done by their 22 turnovers.

Marcus Smart: B

Smart didn't do too badly on the defensive end, and while he missed three of his four free throw attempts, he helped out a little offensively. He scored seven points on 2-of-5 shooting, and he hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers take control. The veteran guard also had four rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes.

Deandre Ayton: C-minus

Ayton didn't do his job defensively on Embiid, and he didn't play up to his standards in other departments. He went 4-of-5 from the field to score 10 points and had six rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes, as coach JJ Redick opted to go with other players quite often at the center position.

Jake LaRavia: B

LaRavia gave the Lakers some solid offensive help by making five of his seven shot attempts and scoring 14 points. He also contributed two assists and three steals in 23 minutes.

Luka Doncic: Incomplete

Doncic played 16 minutes and finished with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting, four rebounds, two assists and five turnovers before he had to exit the game due to left leg soreness. Redick said after the game that Doncic felt some tightness in his hamstring and it was determined that he wasn't able to return to the game.

LeBron James: C

James shot 1-of-6 in the first half and 2-of-9 through three quarters, giving him just seven points going into the final period. But he turned things up in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points and making five of eight shot attempts to help ignite the Lakers' late rally.

He ended up with 17 points on 7-of-17 field-goal shooting, four rebounds, 10 assists and one block, but he committed eight turnovers. Overall, the Lakers tried a number of risky passes, especially in transition, and while they were able to get away with it, they need to make sure their passes are more on-point, especially when they look to create pace and early shots.

Austin Reaves: A

In his second game back from a gastrocnemius strain, Reaves again came off the bench and was on a minutes restriction. But that didn't impede him one bit.

He scored 14 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting and had 22 points through three quarters. Like James, he turned things up a notch in the fourth quarter to help L.A. establish control, and he did a fantastic job of doing damage both from the perimeter and near the rim.

Reaves ended up scoring 35 points on 12-of-17 from the field, 5-of-8 from 3-point range and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. He also had five rebounds and two assists, and he looked very much like his usual self, especially while operating off the dribble and attacking downhill.

Rui Hachimura: A

Hachimura helped the Lakers' second unit plenty by scoring 14 points on 5-of-7 overall and grabbing seven rebounds. He played 35 minutes, and he continues to show his value to the team regardless of what type of role he's playing.

Maxi Kleber: B

Kleber definitely made a positive impact in multiple areas on Thursday. He made two of his three shot attempts to score four points, but he also played with physicality and obtained four rebounds, all of them coming on the offensive glass, in 26 minutes. In his spare time, he also contributed four assists and three steals.

Jarred Vanderbilt: B-minus

Vanderbilt got 23 minutes of playing time and grabbed six rebounds, scored six points on 3-of-7 shooting and added one assist, two steals and one block.

Dalton Knecht: Incomplete

In three minutes of playing time, Knecht made his only shot attempt to score two points, and he also had one rebound.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: Austin Reaves leads L.A. past the 76ers