When the Los Angeles Lakers and Raptors faced off the first time this season, Toronto was without DeMar DeRozan and lost. This time, they were without their floor general, Kyle Lowry, but the results were different.
Even though DeMar DeRozan had a horrid offensive night, the Raptors were still able to pull out a victory led by their role players. DeRozan had just six points on 1 of 10 shooting but added 10 rebounds and seven assists. He scored his first field goal at the 8:56 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Lakers played a well-rounded first quarter, moving the ball around and finding quality offense led by Jeremy Lin’s 10 points. The Raptors, on the other hand, looked stagnant offensively.
Throughout the entire first half, the Lakers dominated the offensive rebounding and second chance points. L.A. had 12 offensive rebounds and 16 second chance points compared to only three offensive rebounds and one second chance point for the Raptors. Despite those two huge advantages, the Lakers only led by two at the half.
In the second half, role players such as James Johnson, Lou Williams, and Jonas Valanciunas aided the Raptors to an 11-point triumph, picking up the slack for DeRozan. James Johnson finished with 17 points and six rebounds on an efficient 7 of 10 shooting from the field, while Valanciunas led all scorers with 19 points, including seven boards and a block.
Williams provided his usual offensive prowess off the pine, scoring 18 points and gathering four assists. The Raptors benched ended with 43 points compared to Los Angeles’ 31. It’s unusual to see the Lakers bench get outscored, but with the latest lineup and rotation changes, the Lakers bench has been slightly struggling.
Byron Scott was back on the sidelines after a two-game absence. However, Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill were once again given the night off as the evaluation period continued. Only Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson scored in double figures tonight for the Lakers, though.
Lin had a team-high 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Clarkson chipped in 14 points and four rebounds. The next highest scorer was Wayne Ellington with nine.
The Lakers shot 34.5 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three-point distance. The Raptors shot a respectable 48 percent from the floor and 38.9 from threes, which made up for their lack of rebounding.
This win was important for the Raptors as they continue to chase the Chicago Bulls for the third seed while trying to own a better record than the Washington Wizards to earn home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They improved to 43-30 with the win and clinched the Atlantic division.
The Lakers slipped to 19-52, still tied in the loss column with the Orlando Magic who also lost tonight.
As the season winds down, every single game carries importance, even for the Lakers since they are trying to hold on to their top-five protected first-round draft pick.
Up next for the Lakers, they will travel to Brooklyn to clash against the Nets, who are attempting to make a playoff push out East, on Sunday afternoon. The Raptors get the weekend off and will be back in action Monday to host MVP vote-getter, James Harden, and the Houston Rockets, who now have Dwight Howard back in their lineup.