LeBron and Bronny James make their only trip to Scotiabank Arena tonight as the Lakers visit the beat-up Raptors.
The father-son duo made NBA history on opening night when they became the first and only father-son duo to play together in an NBA game. Bronny James then made some personal history in LA’s last game, a blowout loss to the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bronny registered his first NBA bucket in the fourth quarter of the Tuesday night loss, and his Lakers have now made the road trip around Lake Erie to head into Toronto.
For the home side, it’s been a rough start to the season. Toronto has dropped four of their first five games to start the season, and have lost all-star forward Scottie Barnes for at least three weeks.
The tough news came on top of existing injuries to Immanuel Quickley, Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and rookie Ja’Kobe Walter, all of whom would likely be in the Raptors’ regular rotation if they were healthy.
Toronto is coming off of a close, five-point loss in Charlotte on Monday night which saw RJ Barrett lead the way scoring wise with 31 points, and supposed-to-be-backup point guard Davion Mitchell record 11 assists, a season-high so far for any Raptor.
The home squad has their work cut out for them with a depleted roster and hosting what should be a championship contender in the LA Lakers, but coach Rajakovic always has his team playing energetic and tenacious, as Raptors should be.
Here are the game details:
Time: 7:30 pm ET
Where to watch: TSN
Lineups:
Raptors: Davion Mitchell, Gradey Dick, RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji, Jakob Poeltl
Lakers: D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, Anthony Davis
Injuries:
Raptors: Kelly Olynyk — back (OUT), Bruce Brown — knee (OUT), Ja’Kobe Walter — shoulder (OUT), Immanuel Quickley — pelvis (OUT), Scottie Barnes — orbital fracture (OUT)
Lakers: Christian Wood — knee (OUT), Jarred Vanderbilt — foot (OUT), Christian Koloko — illness (OUT), D’Angelo Russell — back (PROBABLE), Anthony Davis — hip (PROBABLE)
LeFamily in LeBronto
LeBron James has a history of owning Toronto, so much so that social media dubbed the city “LeBronto” after the Raptors vs. Cavs 2018 playoff matchup. Now with the Lakers, LeBron and his son continue to make the family tour around the league as Bronny develops with the Lakers staff at the end of their bench. Tonight marks the first ever double LeBronto game where the Raptors will do their best to put an end to the nickname.
StaRJ Barrett
Since returning from injury against Denver, the hometown kid leads the team in scoring, averaging 25.5 points across his two outings. Barrett’s favourite player growing up was Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, whom he styles his game after so much so that he was given the nickname “Maple Mamba” early in his career. Facing his idol’s former team, Barrett will need to lead the way again to get back in the win column.
Career High Gradey
Raptors guard Gradey Dick has posted career high scoring numbers in two of the team’s past three games. The second year pro dropped 25 points against Minnesota for the team lead and his career high, then followed it up four nights later with 26 points against Charlotte. The 2023 first-round pick continues to impress after being thrust into an elevated role with the slew of injuries the Raptors have experience thus far in the season.
