Lakers player grades: L.A. gets hammered by the Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers went for their eighth straight win on Monday when they hosted the Phoenix Suns in the second half of a back-to-back set. They got back LeBron James, who sat out Sunday's 133-121 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, and they hoped to end this stretch of four straight home games the right way.

The Lakers kept pace with the Suns for the first one and a half quarters, but the Suns blitzed Los Angeles to the tune of a 19-4 run to end the second quarter by forcing a flurry of turnovers, and just like that, L.A. was down 66-52 at halftime. Even worse, the Suns did that without Devin Booker, their best player, who didn't return to the game after the first quarter due to a groin injury.

Los Angeles never really made this game competitive afterward. Phoenix led by as many as 25 points and ended up winning 125-108. This was total domination in several categories. Phoenix scored 32 points off 22 Lakers turnovers and had a 28-2 edge in fast-break points while getting 35 assists compared to just 18 for the Lakers.

Outside shooting was also a big problem. The Suns didn't have a huge overall statistical edge in 3-point shooting, but they made 43.6% of their 39 3-point attempts. Dillon Brooks, that old Lakers villain from a couple of years ago, sent a painful message with 33 points on 15-of-26 shooting from the field, while guard Collin Gillespie, who came into Monday averaging 12.7 points a game, put up a career-high 28 points and went 8-of-14 from downtown.

With a 15-5 record, the Lakers are still in second place in the Western Conference. They will start a challenging three-game road trip on Thursday when they face the Toronto Raptors, who, like the Suns, have gotten off to a surprisingly strong start this season with a 14-7 mark.

Rui Hachimura: F

Hachimura has done a good job so far this season of providing some scoring punch for the Lakers when they have needed it. He came into this game averaging 14.8 points a game, but on Monday, he took just one shot, which he missed. He went scoreless, and his only contribution in 23 minutes was one rebound.

Deandre Ayton: B-minus

Ayton went 6-of-8 from the field and scored 12 points and had nine rebounds, but the Suns did a good job of not allowing him to get as many easy looks near the rim as he has been getting lately. He had one assist and one steal, but he had no free throw attempts in 28 minutes.

On the other side, Mark Williams, the center the Lakers tried to trade for in February, had 13 points, six rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist, as well as multiple thunderous dunks, in 25 minutes.

Austin Reaves: B-minus

Reaves had 16 points, which seems underwhelming for him these days, on 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. He also notched four rebounds and three assists, but he contributed to the Lakers' ball-security problems with five turnovers.

Luka Doncic: B-minus/B

Doncic again scored 20 points in the first quarter, this time on 8-of-11 shooting. But when it all fell apart afterward, he was a major culprit.

He had four turnovers in a two-minute stretch during the second quarter that allowed the Suns to go on an 11-2 run during that span. Overall, he threw the basketball away nine times, and he was a team-low minus-25 in the plus/minus category.

Scoring-wise, Doncic was incredible as usual with 38 points on 15-of-26 overall shooting and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc, and he also had 11 rebounds and five assists. But sometimes, his teammates don't move well enough without the ball when he has it and is looking to attack. The Lakers need more ball movement in their halfcourt offense, and they need more off-the-ball action to get guys open so that Doncic can find them for some easy looks.

LeBron James: D

James simply didn't assert himself in any way in this game, and he looked a bit disengaged for a good part of the game. He had four points in the first half, and he scored six points on 2-of-7 shooting through three quarters. With 6:51 left in the fourth quarter, he hit a 3-pointer to keep his record streak of double-digit scoring games intact, and he left shortly afterward.

He ended up with 10 points on 3-of-10 overall shooting, three assists and no rebounds in 31 minutes. Now that James has been back for five games, he absolutely needs to be aggressive for the Lakers to be successful in December, especially with some of the challenging opponents they have coming up.

Gabe Vincent: D

Vincent couldn't find the basket in this game. He made one of his six shot attempts, and he scored three points, to go along with two rebounds in 21 minutes.

Jake LaRavia: D

It has been a while since LaRavia had a strong offensive game after playing so well in the first seven games of this season. On Monday, he took just three shots in 16 minutes, and he made one of them, giving him two points, to go along with two rebounds and one assist.

Dalton Knecht: A

Knecht had a rare productive outing on Monday. He made five of his seven shot attempts and went 3-of-5 from downtown to score 13 points in 16 minutes, and he also chipped in four rebounds and one assist.

Maxi Kleber: B

In 10 minutes, Kleber scored five points and added three rebounds and two assists.

Adou Thiero, Nick Smith Jr., Bronny James: Incomplete

Thiero, Smith and the younger James came into the game during garbage time with the outcome long ago decided. Thiero had one rebound, Smith hit one of his two shot attempts and the younger James had one assist.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. gets hammered by the Suns