10 things from Raptors-Lakers
Welcome to the 10 things recap by theScore features writer William Lou, which serves to highlight emerging trends from a Raptors perspective.
Showtime: This was a rout from start to finish even though Kawhi Leonard sat out his third game of the season. The Raptors thoroughly outclassed a Lakers squad that seemed totally disorganized and entirely disinterested.
Dominant: Toronto led 42-17 after the first quarter. The starting lineup collectively shot 15-of-20. Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka were both a plus-31 after being the driving forces behind the 41-10 start.
Hungry: The Lakers' interior defense was so bad that it made Ibaka look like Anthony Davis. Ibaka shot 14-of-14 to start, had the mid-range working, consistently finished through contact, drilled a wide-open three, drove past LeBron James for a two-handed dunk, put JaVale McGee on clamps defensively (which is surprisingly difficult these days), all en route to a career-high 34 points.
Overzealous: Ibaka's first miss came in the third quarter when he started demanding post-ups in the middle of the floor. That worked fine against McGee and Kyle Kuzma, but it didn't go so well when Ibaka tried a Kobe Bryant-esque fadeaway against James that predictably rimmed out.
Hyper: Pascal Siakam continues to dominate on both ends. He recorded another double-double, taking it coast to coast, made spectacular plays in transition including a stretching finger roll after jumping from outside the paint, and he threw down a wicked dunk that sent James scrambling to avoid the dunk.
Efficient: Lowry just keeps racking up the helpers. He tacked on another 15 assists tonight to pad his season-leading total of 116 through 10 games. The only thing to nitpick about his play was how he closed out the game, as he opted to milk the clock and settle for bad shots instead of just running the offense. To his credit, Lowry did find Siakam for a much-needed layup and made a circus layup in the last two minutes to end any semblance of a comeback.
Pesky: The Raptors need this type of energy from Delon Wright on a nightly basis. Wright was active in passing lanes, flew in for a two-handed putback dunk (how many point guards can do that?), drove the lane for a powerful and-1 finish, and generally carried a bench unit that was otherwise leaking points.
Cursed: C.J. Miles is playing his way out of the rotation at this rate. Not only is he the worst defender on the team, but he also can't get anything to drop on offense and now he's starting to force bad shots. Norman Powell isn't much better but at least he's playing defense.
Disparity: Maybe it was just an act of pity by the officials, but the Lakers shot twice as many free throws (29 to 14) despite mostly settling for jump shots, while Kuzma outright shoved Wright on a layup and there was no whistle.
Hot seat: Don't be surprised if there are more reports for Luke Walton to lose his job. Not only did the Lakers fall behind by 31 after nine minutes, but Walton stapled James to the bench for the entirety of the fourth quarter, even when the deficit was cut to 10.