The Los Angeles Lakers were able to bounce back in a big way on Tuesday night, blowing out a shorthanded Toronto Raptors squad by a score of 110-101. With so many tough games coming up on the road trip, this was a much-needed with for L.A.
The Lakers came out of the gates hot, moving the ball along the arc and knocking down several open 3-pointers. Markieff Morris drained a couple quick ones to give Los Angeles the early lead, while Marc Gasol kept the team organized on both ends as he looked rejuvenated playing against his former team.
Things got heated midway through the first as OG Anunoby dropped Dennis Schroder, provoking a confrontation between the two teams. Anunoby and Montrezl Harrell were ejected from the game, with the latter taking the fall for defending his teammate.
The Lakers continued to shoot well after the scuffle though and as a result, they went into the second up 40-28.
Devontae Cacok was a spark for Los Angeles with Harrell no longer available, playing solid defense and converting a layup after a nice dish from Talen Horton-Tucker. The 3-point barrage from the Lakers did not let up either as they were able to convert on nearly all their open looks, opening up a 25-point lead in the process.
Everything continued to go right for the Purple and Gold as they could not miss from the field and defensively made life unbearable for the Raptor offense. Toronto showed some signs of life to close the quarter, but the Lakers still went into the half ahead comfortably, 68-42.
Gasol picked up where he left off in the first half to begin the third quarter, scoring the first two Laker baskets and then finding Schroder for a floater. However, the Raptors began to slowly cut into the deficit as they looked to push the tempo off misses.
The Lakers managed to hit a couple more threes to keep them well ahead, but the Raptors had more pep in their step as they looked to climb out of their hole. However, Cacok provided some much-needed energy in his second stint and L.A. walked into the fourth with a comfortable 90-70 lead.
Both teams struggled to get much going scoring-wise to begin the fourth, but Horton-Tucker scored five points to put the Lakers ahead by 24. Despite cooling down from three, Los Angeles was never truly threatened and would come away with a solid victory.
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