Lakers Travel to Toronto for a 2 Seed Showdown
Your Los Angeles Lakers (15-5) head to Canada tonight to take on the Toronto Raptors (15-7). Both teams have had a hot start to the season, occupying the 2 seeds in their respective conferences.
LA is 8-2 on the road while Toronto is 8-2 at home.
The Lakers are beginning a 3-game road trip and look to bounce back from a disappointing loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
Los Angeles will be without Luka Doncic, who traveled to Slovenia this week for the birth of his second child. The team will need LeBron James to step back into a primary scoring role to make up for Doncic’s lost offensive output.
Replacing LuKA
The spotlight will be on James to take over the offense in Doncic’s absence. LeBron is known to take over games in Toronto throughout his career. In his last five games against the Raptors, the team is 5-0. He will need to be aggressive in this one and look to ignite the pick-and-roll game with Deandre Ayton right away.
It won’t all be on LeBron, however. Austin Reaves is playing like a superstar this season, and he is the second-highest scorer on the team behind Luka. He is going to have to have a better performance after a subpar night against the Suns on Monday.
The team will also need players such as Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia to have big nights as well. Combined, they currently average 23.3 ppg.
Raptors Efficiency
Toronto is playing some of its best basketball in a while. The team is ranked 11th in the league in offensive rating and has the league’s 6th best defense.
They have a balanced and deep roster led by Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, and RJ Barrett. Barrett is out tonight with a right knee sprain, but his offense should be replaced by Immanuel Quickley, as he currently averages 16.3 ppg.
This team is young and hungry and still needs to do a lot to prove they’re a legit contender in the East. We should expect them to come hot out of the gate with the Hollywood spotlight on them.
Lakers Defense
LA has been an offensive juggernaut this season, but their defense is ranked in the middle of the pack. The team will also be without one of their top defenders in Marcus Smart, tonight. They need other defenders to step up to limit Toronto’s balanced attack.
Expect big minutes for Jake LaRavia and Gabe Vincent as they are two of the Lakers’ above-average defenders.
Final Thoughts
We will see if the Lakers come into this one with more focus after two days of rest. Their upcoming schedule is going to be tough, so every game will count.
Los Angeles is a slight underdog as Toronto is favored by 2.5 points.
Tip-off is set for 4:30 PT.
