After a rough loss to the Phoenix Suns, things didn’t get any easier for the Los Angeles Lakers as they kicked off a challenging three-game-in-four-day road trip against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night.
The Lakers were without both Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart, making it even more of a challenge against a Raptors team that has been one of the bigger surprises in the league so far this season. Ultimately, the Lakers fought hard and came away with a 123-120 victory on a buzzer-beater by Rui Hachimura
Austin Reaves has constantly stepped up for the Lakers when others are out of the lineup and that was the case again to start this one as he kicked off the scoring with a pair of 3-pointers and an assist to Deandre Ayton to take an 8-2 lead.
The Lakers were playing with nice energy early as Jake LaRavia came off the bench and immediately hit a triple, and then Reaves scored down low to go up double digits. Brandon Ingram had eight first quarter points to get the Raptors going, but L.A. still led 31-26 going into the second.
Adou Thiero got some minutes for the Lakers to begin the second quarter and made an immediate impact with an offensive rebound, assist, steal and a three-point play.
After missing his first six shots, James finally got one to go on a driving layup. Reaves then returned and led a strong close to the half, sending the Lakers into the halftime locker room with a 67-58 lead.
Reaves had the Lakers’ first five points to begin the third quarter, but L.A. otherwise struggled offensively as Toronto quickly fought back and tied the game.
After a much-needed timeout, Rui Hachimura hit a midrange bucket, but then Gabe Vincent committed a Flagrant 1 foul which allowed the Raptors to take their first lead of the night.
That was short-lived, however, as Reaves resumed his domination by hitting a number of circus shots. He had 22 points in the third quarter alone and the Lakers took a 100-98 lead into the fourth.
With Reaves on the bench, James, Hachimura and Vincent continued to struggle offensively while Ingram tied the game heading into the final stretch.
While Reaves return and continued to score at will, he took a shot to the face from Ingram and appeared to be in a lot of pain. He stayed in the game, but the Lakers found themselves down two after a three-point play by Toronto.
James tied the game with a layup going into the final minute, but Ingram responded with a bucket of his own.
With the game on the line, James needed two points to keep his doubled-digit scoring streak in tact. Instead though, he found an open Hachimura for a 3 at the buzzer to seal the win. With that though, his double-digit streak came to an end at an insane 1,297 games as he finished with eight points. Most importantly though, the Lakers got the win.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will be back in action on Friday night against the rival Boston Celtics in the second night of a back-to-back before closing out their road trip on Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
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