5 things: No LeBron and no Davis means no problem for Raptors in win over Lakers

Here are five takeaways from the Toronto Raptors’ 126-113 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

1. The Raptors handled their business and led wire-to-wire for a stress-free win. It was hardly perfect in terms of execution and finishing, but the Lakers were comically abysmal in the absence of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Raptors jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first two minutes, and held serve the rest of the way. There are no particularly useful lessons in a game this lopsided, but it was good to see the Raptors handle it professionally and not play down to the Lakers’ level. They played to their pillars of being active on the offensive glass, forcing turnovers, running the break as much as possible, and exploiting mismatches on offence. The result was 19 more shot attempts, which made up for a lack of shooting efficiency.

2. The lack of shotmaking by the Raptors made this game a slog to sit through. The ball movement was good for the most part and there were so many mismatches to attack that the Lakers kept having to double, which opened up endless chances for kickout threes. But even Toronto’s best and most accomplished shooters failed to capitalize on open chances. Fred VanVleet was 3-of-12 from deep and converted more difficult 30-foot pull-ups than he did on open and set looks. O.G. Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. were open all night in their usual spots but they also couldn’t connect. The Raptors were able to recycle possessions as Scottie Barnes, Chris Boucher and Thad Young pounded the offensive glass, but it remains perplexing how the Raptors continue to waste chances. Outside of the left corner, the Raptors shot 8-of-34 from three. It didn’t matter against an undermanned opponent, but shotmaking was a huge reason for the loss to Boston. The Raptors aren’t stocked with shooters but they shouldn’t be the worst jump-shooting team in the league. 

3. The Lakers smartly played zone defence for the vast majority of the game. The main reason was because they had no individual defenders for Pascal Siakam, Barnes, Anunoby or VanVleet, and the Raptors could get into the paint through any of the four options. But the other driving factor for the zone was simply how bad the Raptors were at unlocking it. Putting aside the poor three-point shooting, the Raptors were also disorganized in how they wanted to attack to open the third quarter. Part of the issue was that Christian Koloko is just not experienced enough to catch passes in the middle and then to make the right plays from there, but the Raptors could use someone else in that role. Barnes or Siakam would have made for better choices in the middle of the zone, or subbing Koloko out for a shooter like Trent Jr. or a more seasoned playmaker in Young would have helped. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see more of this coverage in future matchups as it consistently gets the Raptors out of rhythm and locks them out of the paint.

4. Barnes continues to shake out of his slump with another energetic and unselfish showing. He found a good balance between slowing it down to attack a weak defender and making quick passes to not stall the momentum, while also looking to push the ball at every opportunity. Barnes also ripped 17 rebounds for the second time in three games, and showed absolutely no ill effects of any leg issues that led to Barnes limping prominently at various points this season. If he remains active, Barnes can positively impact the game consistently, while also finding his spots to score. His recent performances are very similar to how he approached last season, where he mostly played within the flow with the starters and directed more of the action when the main players sit. What remains consistent in his approach is that Barnes is very willing to trust his teammates, even when he could easily call his own number.

5. VanVleet found some rhythm and more end product for his efforts. He opened the game with a pull-up three off a high screen and got into the paint repeatedly for flip shots and reverse finishes, while also picking out shooters on his drives. He had a similar run in the third quarter when he knocked in a three, broke down the defence to find Anunoby for a corner trey, nailed a rainbow turnaround over Russell Westbrook, before capping off the run with a 30-foot pull-up to force the Lakers into a timeout. The moments in between were still shaky, and it's strange to see so many of his open threes miss left and right as opposed to long and short, but this is a step in the right direction. VanVleet's percentages would be a lot more stable if he could score with this type of reliability inside of the arc.