RAPTORS -at- LAKERS - 1-9-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Back-to-Back Wins... The Lakers pulled back to .500 again with a 132-131 win over the visiting Raptors.

The Raptors went small with their center out for this game, and the Lakers fed AD early as he scored 16 of their 28 to lead by 4 in the first quarter.

They extended the lead to 8 when Bron pulled up from the logo and buried a three midway through the quarter. After that, the Lakers started settling for threes, making just 1-6 to close the half and trailed by 2 points at the break.

The Lakers fell back by 8 after the first 3 minutes. LeBron imposed his physicality to get the rim, and the Lakers would retake the lead late in the third. Russell and Christie helped the Lakers to a 12-2 run to force a Raptor timeout up 6.

The Lakers trailed 89-88 heading into the fourth after a couple late FTs by Schröder.

AD had 3 points in the second and just 2 in the third. That would change in the fourth as they made a point getting him the ball early or on the move. He poured in 20 of his 41 in the fourth quarter.

As the teams traded lead, it was AD who came up with the big defensive stop with under a minute left, blocking a drive. He was money from the line on the other end to close out the Raptors. He’d go 11-11 from the freethrow line, and the Lakers would need every one of those to edge out the Raptors by a point. The Lakers won the fourth quarter 44-42.


LeBron -- -- I don’t know how many of AD’s points (including some FTs) came off Bron passes, but it was a lot. Nearly all of ADs early scores were assisted by Bron in LBJ’s first shift. He’d finish with 7 assists in the first half, picking up another one to AD late in the half. (He’d also make an underrated flip ahead pass to Reaves on the break.) Low scoring half for Bron as he hit that logo three and then had another bully-ball drive like a fullback down the middle of the lane for an And-1. He was taking a lot of contact in this game, even came up bleeding at one point in the third. He was dishing it out, physically getting to the rim for another And-1 after multiple fouls not called until the layup finish. He followed that up with another running back drive to the hoop for a layup. He made Quickley feel him pretty good as he tried to bump Bron on a cut to pick up Quickley’s fourth foul in the third. That would end up being a key play later. Some great feeds down the stretch by Bron to AD under the hoop before the D could send help. Really fast to read those cuts and seals and get AD the ball. Orchestrated the offense well to our strengths when it mattered most. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-17 shooting (2-5 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 12 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +0.

Davis -- -- With Raptors missing their big, they started Thadeus Young, so they were lacking size. First play, jumphook for AD. Second play, And-1 layup on the two-man with Bron. Shortly later, a lob dunk from Bron on the screen-roll. Dunk in the post off another Bron feed. And we were off. That last one forced a Raptor timeout. He’d finish with 16 points in the first quarter, including a three. As they rotated and broke up the AD/Bron combo, AD would score just 3 points. His only bucket in the second quarter was off a late sideline pick and roll with Bron. He’d finish with 19 on 8-10 shooting at the half. Just 2 points in the third quarter from AD and he looked frustrated at the end of the quarter. We didn’t ignore him in the fourth. Credit LeBron with some great passes as AD got to the front of the rim to seal quickly. The defense couldn’t send help. Some nice passes by Reaves, as well. Down the stretch, AD was a freethrow machine. He looked automatic, like he was alone in the gym. He made two with 33 seconds left. He made two more with 24 seconds left. He made two more with 8 seconds left. Up 2 with 3.2 seconds left, he was fouled again and made both once again. We needed all those to win by a point as the Raptors made a three at the buzzer. Season high for AD with that huge fourth quarter. Superb job from the line. Huge block by AD with 51 seconds. That was the key defensive stop (maybe the only one) in the final minute. The Stats: He scored 41 points on 13-17 shooting (2-2 from three, 13-14 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 6 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +0.

Prince -- -- A couple of threes and a couple of scores attacking in this one. He banked in a runner and drew some FTs on another drive in the first half. In the second half, he attacked off the three line for a layup, swished a stepback corner three and drained another corner three off the swing pass from Reaves. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (2-6 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -7.

Reddish -- -- He was in on some big plays in this game. He sank a big three on a kickout from Reaves in the fourth. That was his fourth three of the game in six attempts. Really locked in with that perimeter shot in this one while proving the defense on the other end. He got a huge stop and Quickley’s sixth foul of the game with 3:52 left, taking a hard elbow to the chin on a high gather. He went down, flagrant-1. He’d make one FT off that, then we called timeout and he went to the locker room, bloody lip and cartoon birds circling his head. That looked painful. Earlier in the game, he also had a great block on a Quickley jumper staying with him. A good effort and battle out there. He fumbled a ball away early on an unforced error. Bron brought that up, so it’s on his mind, too, and perhaps part of his purpose when he said, “He was always ready offensively.” The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-7 shooting (4-6 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -7.

Reaves -- -- He struggled to connect from three range in the first half, missing all he took. He’d score a floater and another finish on the break after he picked a man with a reach and busted down court to take the return pass. While he wasn’t hitting from three, he was finding his teammates for three, including an extra pass to Prince for a corner three and a great kickout to Reddish for a three to take the lead. Down the stretch, Reaves came up big. First, good job running the offense and hitting AD for some easy points. Reaves hit a huge three with 3 minutes left, took his time and held that pose from deep to give the Lakers a 2-point lead. He then drew some FTs on a crossover and made both of those to go up 5. He was fouled with 14 seconds left and made both clutch FTs. Good job in crunch time. Defensively, he got the Dennis assignment late. He had a great challenge on a three, but Dennis banked it in, uggh. Good job with that matchup, though. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-10 shooting (1-6 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal and 2 foul sin 32 minutes. He was a -2.

Russell -- -- He was exchanging some words tonight with RJ, Dennis and some others. A lot of talking on the court. I like it when he plays with a little chip on his shoulder and is aggravated. It’s better than quietly disappearing. I think, just guessing, but it may have gotten the better of him late in this one. He missed kind of a wild pull three from deep in the heat of the battle and that was the last shot he took. He made a couple of threes earlier. Every three we made was big. He’d also scoop up a loose ball and take it the distance for a layup. That’s when he talked some trash to RJ on the tail end of a 12-2 Laker run. Just 17 minutes for Russell. That’s not great, but I think with Cam knocking threes down so well tonight we went there. And then we let Reaves run the point to close. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (2-6 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 5 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a +7.

Vanderbilt -- -- Again a lot of little hustle/energy plays which is what we need around our stars. He tapped out an offensive board that eventually led to a Wood drive and score. The then drew a travel on his man on the other end. Some backcourt pressure forced a bad pass and turnover. He dunked off an AD double team, taking an interior pass. The Raptors, of course, would leave a lot of space for him at times and that clogged things up. He also was called for a travel on a drive, a tech for holding the rim on a block attempt and was called for a charge on a drive. So not always clean and give a little too much back with the 3 turnovers. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a +6.

Wood -- -- He had a lot of time on those jumpers today and was able to get squared up. Great job knocking those down. They gave him too much room. It helps when he plays with AD and Bron. Those guys draw a lot of attention and that allows him to get into that comfort zone. Things got a little chippy out there as he got a couple perimeter fouls called against him. He had some smalls trying to defend him at times and we didn’t really get to take advantage of that as a result. Again, positive on the +/-. The entire bench had a positive. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +3.

Christie -- -- With Reddish getting clocked, we went with Christie to close. Reddish would have finished this one because he was drilling it from three. He came up with a huge offensive board and foul on a putback attempt with 1:37 left. He made both clutch FTs to keep the lead at 5. Fairly quiet game, otherwise. He made a three earlier, not forcing a pass to AD and hitting over the zone. He’d then find Russell for a three, too. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-2 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +5.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: The refs and coaches really slammed on the brakes in the heat of the battle with timeouts and reviews. With 3:59 in the fourth, the Raptors challenged a foul called on an AD drive for FTs. Looked like a small shove in the body by Quickley (his fifth), looked obvious unless they wanted to call a foul on someone else on the review. This took forever. Challenge unsuccessful, Quickley’s fifth. On the very next possession for the Raptors, Quickley would foul out with the drive and elbow to Cam’s chin. The officials reviewed that elbow on the high gather for a flagrant. After Reddish’s freethrows, the Lakers called a timeout to get Cam out, who looked a bit stunned. The teams would trade baskets until Reaves hit a huge three and AD followed that up with an And-1 to go up 5. After a Raptors three, AD score a layup in early offense with a minute left, then he would block a drive with 51 seconds left. Huge defensive stop that would give us the advantage while we traded buckets and then freethrows to close this one..

Key Substitution: Wood gave the Lakers 14 points off the bench, which is huge. But I think coming back to Reaves with a few minutes left to run the point was a big substitution. Reaves hit that big three, but orchestrated the offense really well down the stretch. Reaves was struggling with his shot, but made big play after big play when it mattered most.

Key Stats: The Lakers scored 81 points in the second half. The Raptors 78, themselves. A small chunk of that was the foul exchanges in the final 24 seconds, but a 44-42 fourth quarter isn’t something you see often. Good job by the Lakers making 44% of their threes (16-36) and hitting 28-36 from the line.

Coach’s Challenge: The Lakers challenged a foul as Dennis drove and kicked Russell on a drive with 3:24 in the third. The Lakers won the challenge and got the ball back and saved the timeout.

[eddiejonze]

First!
Oh yessss...
The Raptors coach was going CRAZY in the postgame, asking why Scotty Barnes didn't get more FT's... uhhh, maybe because AD was guarding him?!
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Creatures crawl in search of blood, To terrorize y'alls neighborhood.

[Dr. Laker]

[DancingBarry]

Lol. He lost his mind. First off, what Laker freethrows shouldn't have been freethrows? They reviewed one and lost. Reddish got the flagrant FTs that were reviewed, maybe an argument there that it was just an accidental high gather contact play. But so many intentional ones down the stretch.

They want a contact by Christie after the dunk? That happens all game long.

I was totally anticipating the rant after this one because of how the intentional fouls made the number look way out of balance and how aggressive we got getting the ball to AD quickly when he had size advantage.

Definitely an entertaining rant to watch, lol.

[Treble Clef]

[PenG_]

We've had 2019-20 AD for much of the season.

[defense]

[hydrohead]

Thanks DB.
Watched the second half. Boy they needed every bit of those free throws makes by AD. Toronto was killing it from three. Siakam and Trent couldn’t miss.
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Darvin

[deal]

Thanks DB !!!!
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Lakers need to build a freaking team !

[governator]

Love the win but how they still drop 130s with no real bigs, what did our defense do wrong?
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“The main goal for the Lakers is to win a championship. All I care about, all we care about, is to raise another banner in the rafters.“

[DancingBarry]

[pio2u]

Thx DB!

[Nobody]

[TDRock]

Woot thanks DB
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#IStillBelieveTaurean

[A Mad Chinaman]