On this, Vincemas Eve, the Toronto Raptors welcomed the Los Angeles Lakers — and the LeFamily — to Toronto. LeBronto lives.
It was the first time the duo of LeBron James and Bronny James made the trip to Canada, and of course Scotiabank arena was more purple and gold than anything else. Fitting, when LeBron scored the first basket of the game that the cheers were astounding.
Despite the tumultuous history between LeBron and the city of Toronto, the arena was still filled with supporters — and he put on a show for them.
The Lakers scored 43 points in the first quarter — Twas rough, friends. By the time halftime rolled around, the Lakers had scored over 70 points. Kinda felt like it was over. Yet, the Raptors took advantage of the Lakers slowing it down and made a huge comeback. At one point, the game was within 6 points, a huge credit to Toronto playing some actual defence in the third as opposed to the first half.
The fourth was the same, the Raptors kept inching into the 10ish point deficit area but LeBron gonna LeBron in Toronto. The end score was 131-125 for the Lakers — can’t help but think about a win-able situation if they had not allowed the Lakers those 43 points in the first quarter.
In the spirit of Vincemas, instead of focusing on how this game was lowkey hard to watch at times, let’s go over some highlights instead! Despite a rough start, it actually turned into a loss we could stomach! Yay!
Good things that happened for the Toronto Raptors tonight:
-Ja’Kobe Walter made his season debut! The rookie, who the Raptors drafted 19th overall in the 2024 NBA draft, had been sidelined after suffering a shoulder injury before training camp. He played well despite not scoring much, showing energy, grit, and looked like a pup with the zoomies — first game energy for sure.
-The Gradey Dick Experience: Gradey is playing SO well to start the season. His confidence is shining through in every play he makes. His shooting is starting to look as advertised on his draft night. His defence is getting better, and Darko is holding him to a higher standard because of it. He also definitely has the green light to shoot whenever he wants, as proved by his 26 shot attempts in this game. It was the 3rd time this week Gradey achieved a new career-high, scoring 31 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists.
-Ochai Agbaji’s development: Like Coach Rajaković said in the pre-game press conference, this year is about development. The losses aren’t so bad, but it would be worse if it felt like the players weren’t making any progress (cough, last year). Agbaji is one of those guys who has taken a leap this season, and tonight showed glimpses of that. His defence continues to get better and he makes energetic efforts to score.
-RJ Barrett stepping up as a leader has been extremely exciting to watch. With both Quickley and Barnes out, Barrett has had to step up not only has a shooter/scorer, but also as a facilitator. That came through tonight as he accomplished a career best night in assists, dishing out 12 to create 24 points overall. While it sucks to not be able to see Barrett, Barnes and Quickley play together, these spurts of having one of the three have allowed them each to step up individually.
-It was not a blowout! Despite the 43 1st quarter points, and the 76 point first half, the Raptors didn’t let that stop them. They fought hard in the third to get back in the game, and in the end a 6 point loss isn’t terrible. It makes you think about how they probably would have won did they not slip so hard to start.
With the Lakers’ annual visit gone, it makes you think about if we have seen the last game LeBron will ever play in Toronto. Weird to think about.
But, onward! We have a holiday tomorrow! Put your milk and cookies out for Santa Carter, and have sweet dreams of slam dunks before we celebrate Vincemas tomorrow!
