LOS ANGELES — This, the injuries, the heavy schedule, the inconsistent lineups, is the Lakers’ new normal. And playing their best amid the chaos has been a challenge.
The Lakers have lost six of their past seven games and 12 of their last 21 games, struggling to find the high-level of energy that got them off to a fast start this season.
“When we’re at our best, we have high effort,” Coach JJ Redick said. “We have high connectivity and that’s reflected on both sides of the ball, and there’s a joy that we play with where we root for each other’s success.”
This was one of those games.
The Lakers, with 12 healthy bodies, used a late-game surge on Sunday night to defeat the Toronto Raptors, 110-93 at Crypto.com Arena, bringing back a measure of fun that had been missing.
But the victory might not have happened if Luka Doncic and LeBron James had decided to sit out.
Both stars were game-time decisions but started, as did veteran guard Marcus Smart, who left the game in the fourth quarter the previous night after colliding with other players in a 132-116 loss to the Portland Trailblazers.
James, who was playing in only his second back-to-back this season, finished with 24 points, four rebounds and seven assists in 31 minutes. Doncic had 25 points and seven assists and Deandre Ayton also had 25 points on 10 of 10 shooting from the field and 13 rebounds.
The Lakers also got centers Ayton and Jaxson Hayes back after both missed the Portland game, adding more bodies to Redick’s patchwork lineups. The only key player still missing is Austin Reaves, who suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain on Christmas Day.
Rui Hachimura scored 10 in his fourth game back from missing seven games because of a calf injury.
Collectively, the Lakers struggled to slow the Raptors through three quarters as the teams fought to gain an advantage until late in the third.
Then, holding onto an 87-80 lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Lakers stretched their lead to 11 (94-83) on a 3-pointer by Smart at the 9:38 mark. The Lakers continued to inch ahead as the Raptors’ shooting fell off, especially from outside.
The Lakers shot 48.2% from the field and 39.8% from 3-point range.
The Lakers pulled away late in the fourth to secure the victory heading into their seven-game, two-week annual Grammy trip. The Lakers play at the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, then return to L.A. to play the Clippers at Intuit Dome before getting back on a plane.
The Raptors jumped out to a quick 16-8 lead and maintained a seven-point advantage after one quarter, shooting 52% from the field. Doncic and James got off to an equally slow start. James, whose only other back-to-back games were the Sacramento Kings/Atlanta Hawks series earlier this week, had two points, while Doncic posted 12.
The Lakers finally got their game going, playing with the kind of success and trust Redick talked about before the game. They found each other under the basket for alley-oop baskets, rebounded well, while Doncic doubled his 3-pointers (4 of 8) and James scored 10 points, both finding ways around the Raptors top five defense to lead 55-54 at the half.
“This sport is built on trust, and it’s hard to build trust when there’s inconsistency in who the guy next to you is. And so trying to create that every night,” Redick said.
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