The Los Angeles Lakers lose significantly to the Toronto Raptors without LeBron James and Anthony Davis

Without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers struggled against the Toronto Raptors, as expected, and lost 113:126. Dennis Schröder was the best player in his team.

Toronto Raptors (13-12) – Los Angeles Lakers (10-14) 126:113 (BOXSCORE)

LeBron James was out with ankle problems, Anthony Davis had to withdraw due to illness. The Raptors got off to a much better start and extended their lead even further in the second quarter, keeping the Lakers in pursuit throughout the game. Vain. Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam (25 points each) led a strong offense that also dominated without much success from Downtown (12/43, 27.9%).

The Lakers hit even worse from long range (7/33, 21.2%) and earned almost no easy points, with only 15 of their 37 shots from the field having assists. Schroeder was his team’s leading scorer with 18 points on 5/10 from the field (1/4 3P), 5 rebounds and 3 assists on turnovers. His backcourt partner Lonnie Walker had by far the worst plus/minus rating at -37.

However, Russell Westbrook was also not a good alternative, coming off the bench in 28 minutes, scored 16 points (5/13 FG) and had 5 turnovers. After all, he grabbed four of his nine rebounds off the opponent’s board, just like Damian Jones (10 points, 10 rebounds as a backup).

At the other end, center Christian Koloko drew attention in his fourth straight start with 4 blocks, then his 6th foul in under 22 minutes. Chris Boucher (16, 7/11 FG) filled in for him nicely and Scottie Barnes (13) cleaned up under the board with a total of 17 rebounds. The Raptors were without injured forwards Juancho Hernangomez, Precious Achiuwa and Otto Porter Jr., and Khem Birch was also absent.