After dropping the first two games of their road trip, the Los Angeles Lakers got back on track on Friday night with a 131-125 win over the Toronto Raptors to improve to 4-2 on the season.
The Lakers came out hot and jumped out to a 25-point lead at halftime, looking like their were about to cruise to a win over a shorthanded Raptors team that was missing Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk.
To the Raptors' credit though, they fought back in the second half thanks to some poor play by the Lakers. They got as close as six but were unable to complete the comeback with L.A. hanging on for the win.
As has been the case a lot to start the season, Anthony Davis led the way for the Lakers in the win. He finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks on 14-of-20 shooting and 10-of-11 at the free throw line.
LeBron James has had great games in Toronto throughout the course of his career and that was again the case in this one as he contributed 27 points, six rebounds, 10 assists and a steal.
The Lakers' starting backcourt also did their part as D'Angelo Russell had 19 points, three rebounds and six assists while Austin Reaves shook off a twisted ankle to finish with 20 points, one rebound, six assists, two steals and a block. Reaves was 12-of-14 at the free throw line, which was more attempts than the entire Raptors team, who had just 13.
While Rui Hachimura stayed quiet for most of the night, he came up big in the fourth quarter with back-to-back corner triples from the same spot when things were starting to get dicey. He wound up with nine points and five rebounds on just 3-of-12 shooting.
With so many key guys out, Gradey Dick and RJ Barrett led the way for the Raptors in their loss. Dick had a career-high 31 points with seven rebounds and three assists while Barrett was Toronto's leading scorer with 33 points, five rebounds and 12 assists.
The win is always nice, but the Lakers need to be better at guarding the perimeter moving forward to avoid giving up runs like they did in the second half to a young, rebuilding Raptors team.
What's next for the Lakers
Now 1-2 on their road trip, the Lakers will finish strong on Monday against the Detroit Pistons and then on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.