Toronto Raptors Banish Los Angeles Lakers to the Shadow Realm 113-80

The Toronto Raptors (13-6) continue to run rampant exploding for 113 points while also managing to put the clamps on an upstart Los Angeles Lakers (10-11) squad to win 113-80.

VS.

	1	2	3	4	T
Raptors	28	41	15	29	113
Lakers	22	26	14	18	80

Thoughts and Observations

Lucas Nogueria either doesn’t know what verticality is or he is blatantly ignoring it. There were multiple challenges at the rim, instead of staying big and straight up he tried to come down to block the shot, which immediately resulted in a foul.

Dwane Casey will do whatever it takes to not vary his bench lineup even to the point of experimenting with Norman Powell in the Starting lineup.

Powell has the weirdest NBA life in the league, a bench warmer who moonlights as a starting small forward.

Ross is really making strides as an on-ball defender but his awareness is still something to be desired. There were multiple possessions where he would sink too far down on penetration allowing for open looks on the perimeter and Brandon Ingram punished him for ball watching on more than one occasion.

Cory Joseph

has developed a move where he’ll actually start driving to the rim before he receives the ball. It’s a straight line drive but it allows him to get speed before the defender even knows what’s happening.

Powell’s signature dunk is officially the leaner. He did it during that pivotal game against the Indiana Pacers in the first round last year and he did it again to punctuate the Raptors lead in this game.

On the over/under ToT-Cast our editor Chris Okrainetz took the under on Bruno Caboclo averaging 1 point per game. Bruno banked home a three-pointer today in only three minutes of play. “Bruno Watch” is on, Chris!

Jose Calderon

is still in the league and actually started an NBA game in 2016.

RBX (Raptors Bandwagon Exchange)

Buy: Jonas Valanciunas is coming off back-to-back six point games, which is pretty negligible, even for him. The Raptors play the Hawks next, bringing Dwight Howard and one of the league’s best defenses to town. There’s going to be a lot of misses meaning a lot of board up for grabs.
Sell: Don’t sell yet, but put the feelers out for Carroll. He’s coming off a couple of hot games but he didn’t play today and he’s due to cool down eventually.

Three Stars of the Night

Kyle Lowry: DeRozan has finally started to cool down on his scoring spree and Lowry has continued to surge. The only person to finish the game with more than 20 points Lowry posted a game-high 24 points and has continued to ride his hot shooting streak to 6-of-9 from three.
Norman Powell: The Raptors second leading scorer, with 17 points and seven rebounds, is a player that looks better when there is better talent around him. Even though his threes were open tonight, he only made 2-of-6, but he was capable of killing the Lakers in transition creating one man fast breaks.
Brandon Ingram: When Brandon Ingram is the volume scorer you’re gonna have a bad time. He finished with 17 points and seven rebounds and on 50 percent shooting but it took him 18 shots to get there.

What’s Next

The Raptors square off against Dwight Howard and the Atlanta Hawks (10-10) on Saturday night at the ACC. The Hawks will be missing Paul Millsap and have continued to struggle without his dynamic all-around play at the four position. What was supposed to be a menacing big man duo has been defanged, offering the Raptors an opportunity to boost their winning streak to six games.

Next: DeMar DeRozan, the Mid-Range Dynamo

What did you think of the Toronto Raptors 113-80 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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