The Los Angeles Lakers have been struggling as of late, losing five of their last six games, with injuries playing a big role in that.
Things didn’t get any easier for the Lakers on Sunday as they returned home to host the Toronto Raptors in the second night of a back-to-back to close out a five-game in seven-day stretch. To their credit though, the Lakers stepped up in a big way and came out with a 110-93 victory to improve their record to 25-16. The 93 points allowed were a season-low by L.A.
It was a slow start for the Lakers as Luka Doncic missed his first five shots and picked up a technical foul out of frustration after a missed goaltend on Toronto. Doncic finally got a triple to go, cutting the Lakers’ early deficit to 20-16.
The Lakers were slugging in the first quarter, resulting in a 30-23 deficit. They flipped a switch to start the second quarter, however, as LeBron James went into attack mode. Doncic then found Deandre Ayton for a pair of alley-oops, starting the corner on a 22-6 run to completely flip the script and take the lead.
After going up by nine though, the Raptors responded with a 9-0 run as Brandon Ingram got going and eventually took the lead back for his team. Doncic finally caught fire at the end of the half and beat the buzzer with a triple, sending the Lakers into the locker room with a 55-54 lead.
It was a game of runs as the Lakers ripped off five quick points to begin the third quarter before the Raptors responded with seven straight to regain the lead.
The Lakers got going from deep towards the end of the third quarter as Rui Hachimura and James both connected, causing the Raptors to take a timeout. Jarred Vanderbilt was playing exceptional defense on Ingram, allowing L.A. to take an 87-80 lead into the fourth quarter.
James had a pair of buckets to begin the fourth and then Smart hit a 3, extending the lead to double digits for the first time.
The Lakers took control from there as Ayton continued to dominate inside, growing the lead even more. After a Vanderbilt dunk in transition to go up 18, the Lakers had no issues closing out the victory.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will now head out on an eight-game road trip, their longest of the season, starting with their first matchup with the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.
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