LAKERS -at- RAPTORS - 4-2-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

DancingBarry

Blowout on the Road... Easy night for the Lakers as they cruised to the 128-111 win over the Raptors.

The Lakers came out strong, scoring on 10-12 shots early on. They toyed with big leads in the first half, but early in the third, the Laker lead was cut to just 3 after 2 minutes.

L.A. rallied with an 11-0 run, forcing the Raptors to go small as they got into some foul trouble.

The Lakers led 100-79 heading into the fourth and dominated the first few minutes as D’Angelo Russell rained threes like he does to put this one out of reach. That led to half a quarter of deep bench garbage time and rest for the Lakers starters.

On to the next one tomorrow.

LeBron --

-- Efficient night, getting to the rim a lot in this game. He had some smaller defenders he could bully. He was able to drive left multiple times for easy scores at the rim. He made his only three he took in this one. Doubles came, he found teammates. He made swing passes to open corner shooters for three. The Lakers were able to scramble the Raptors off the two-man actions and pick them apart pretty easily. Lots of space to work and very little rim protection. Ham played him for 3 minutes to start the fourth and then sat him to keep his minutes down. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 10-12 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-5 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 9 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +13.

Davis --

-- First play of the game, a lob layup. Bron would find him again later for a couple more lobs. He had a putback jam off the two-man game with Russell. Most of his scoring came around the rim. I think he made just one jumper. The jumper was off for the most part as well as his freethrow shooting making just 1-4. The Laker freethrow shooting has been strong lately. This game, they didn’t get to the line a lot, but didn’t make a lot, either. Just 6-12 on the night. He was also a big fumble-prone tonight and led the team with 5 turnovers. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 10-20 shooting (0-4 from three, 1-4 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 1 assist, 5 turnovers and 3 foul sin 28 minutes. He was a +14.

Russell --

-- Trying to figure out why my three numbers were off for him, but apparently they reviewed one of his threes and called it a two. Otherwise, I had 7 catch-and-shoot threes and one pull-up three. Great job by teammates finding him to keep those pull-up three numbers down. So a lot of opportunities for him to play that SG-type of role. Once again in the fourth, he busted the game open for good with a series of threes. That took any remaining will from the Raptors. Passing-wise a little sloppy in this one. He had a couple one-handed bounce passes that went out of bounds. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 9-17 shooting (7-14 from three) to go with 2 boards, 7 assists, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a +23.

Reaves --

-- He’s down 2-20 from three in his last several game. Some attempts were way off tonight until he finally swished on from the wing. Hopefully, that evens back out soon. Some good passing early on in this one to set up teammates. It feels like he’s triggering a lot of offense early in the game lately. Defensively, he led the team with Spencer with 3 blocks. He had a great one recovering to Barrett from behind to reject him and control the ball. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-9 shooting (1-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 6 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +6.

Hachimura --

-- It’s interesting watching him as the beneficiary of our two-man actions as the third guy whose man is getting sucked in to help. That leads to threes or when Rui cuts, opportunities at the rim. Some very purposeful off-ball cuts, as well, when his men get sucked into help Bron or others. Combine that with running the floor (he had a great cut behind his man in transition to take a pass and reverse jam. The passing also has been strong lately. He had another 4 assists tonight, including a nice kickout to Russell for one of his threes late in the game. Some good flow in the offense lately. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +6.

Dinwiddie --

-- He found his shot a bit in the first half, sunking three threes, including one that barely beat the shotclock. Good to see him more aggressive. I’d still like the ball in his hands a little more. Like Reaves, 3 blocks for Dinwiddie in this one including a nice one on a jumper. Love those. He also drew an illegal screen call for another stop. He was a +20 in his 25 minutes, second to only Russell. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +20.

Prince --

-- He made both of his threes he took, both in the firs half. Some nie passing as well, from Prince with 5 assists. He found Russell for a three on a kickout. He found Max in the corner for a three. He attacked off the three line and hit AD for the And-1 layup. Very nice. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +13.

Christie --

-- He came in with 3 minutes left in the first quarter in the smaller Prince at PF lineups. maybe to get a little more size and rebounding out there. But no Vincent tonight, so there’s that, too. Really good two-way outing from Max. He had a couple of steals disrupting passing lanes. He had another turnover he caused on a reach that poked a ball loose on help D. He also blocked a big. Meanwhile, some nice finishes at the rim. He also buried a couple of threes. Good minutes, just a few boards shy of the double-double as he led the bench in scoring, tied for the bench lead with boards and steals, too. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a +8.

Hayes --

-- Wow, he had an And-1 putback jam with 2.9 left in the first quarter where he got horizontal with the floor and slammed into court hard on the landing. It didn’t seem to slow him down as he had the bench on its feet late in the game when he went between his legs on a dunk in transition. Good to have his energy and size back out there. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +6.

Castleton --

-- A good 6 minutes of garbage time for the team tonight. He missed a jumphook and was off the mark on a lob pass to Hayes. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting and had 1 turnover in 6 minutes. He was a -12.

Lewis --

-- A more active outing from Lewis. He crossed over and hit a pull-up from the top of the key for his bucket. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 offensive board in 6 minutes. He was a -12.

Ham --

-- Key Moment: Once Olynyk picked up his fourth foul early in the third that forced the Raptors to go small. They tried to stick to the Lakers, but L.A. had too many mismatches and found separation as the quarter went along. Quickly in the fourth, they were up 30.

Key Substitution: Bron sitting early in the fourth for 20 minutes. AD with just 28 minutes. Plus, a full 6 minutes of garbage time. That should help the next one.

Key Stats: The Lakers had 38 assists, sinking 44% from three (18-41).