That could have been much worse than it was. You’ve got to give it up to the Raptors for not giving up on that game as it was a 25-point deficit at half time and they scratched their way back to make it a competitive ball game. A huge chunk of the fanbase has been asking to tank now and here we are. Let’s get into it.
Before we get into game time we saw a lineup change as Ochai Agbaji took over for Jonathan Mogbo. Now, the Lakers broadcast brought up some nice points. Heading into this contest the Raptors led the league in turnovers and points in the paint. Both of them make sense as we’ve seen the young Raptors be careless with the ball and we’ve seen them attack the paint nonstop. They also pointed out that Toronto is one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the league at the moment, 25th to be exact.
Time for game time. It was a miserable start, Gradey Dick turned the ball over on the Raptors opening offensive possession and he missed a layup on the following possession. The Lakers started on a 7/0 run and caused Darko Rajakovic to call a timeout less than two minutes into the game. Ochai was the only starter who looked like he had some energy at the start of the game.
The rest of the game was much better for Toronto, but the bar was very low as the Lakers won the first quarter 43/19. We saw first-round pick Ja’Kobe Walter make his debut as he got 21 minutes of run out there and put up five points and six rebounds on 1/8 shooting.
Darko must’ve given a very inspiring speech in the locker room as the Raptors looked like a different team in the second half. The defensive effort was much better, as they held the Lakers to 55 points in the final half. Jakob Poeltl had a great third quarter and was able to finish the game with his third consecutive double-double.
Toronto got as close as six points in the final quarter but two straight corner threes by Rui Hachimura put the game out of reach for the Raptors late in the fourth. The big four of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell were the only Lakers in double digits for points. In fact, they almost dropped 20+ each but DLo missed out by a single point.
Some positives for the rebuilding Raptors, Gradey Dick dropped a career-high 31 points tonight and hit the 30 mark for the second consecutive contest. RJ Barret also dropped another 30-piece but more impressively had a career-high 12 assists last night. His playmaking so far looks much improved.
Up next for Toronto, DeMar DeRozan and the Sacramento Kings tonight who are also coming off a back-to-back.
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