Lakers vs. Raptors, 102-93: How Does This Make Sense?

The Lakers put up a fight against the Raptors despite Byron Scott’s best efforts 

There’s no question that the Los Angeles Lakers’ showing on Monday night from the Air Canada Centre against the Toronto Raptors went far better than expected all thing considered. After all, Lakers head coach did make one of the most dumbfounding decisions in recent memory just before the game.

Before tip-off, the Lakers announced that Scott had decided to move both D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle to the bench in favor of starting Larry Nance Jr. and Lou Williams. Rightfully so, this decision was met with unanimous criticism.

However, things worked out well for the Lakers as both Russell and Randle performed with a ton of energy in their new roles with the second-unit and despite being forced to play with the often-inept Robert Sacre and maddeningly passive Marcelo Huertas. The Lakers were in the game late into the fourth quarter. 

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However, this is somewhat of a false positive for the Lakers. While the result doesn’t look bad even in a loss and the two young players did well off the bench, this showing also came against a severely depleted Raptors team playing without Jonas Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll. You have to wonder if the result will look the same with these rotations against a full healthy team.

If there’s one positive that came of Scott’s decision, though, it’s that it forced Kobe Bryant to be more discretionary with his shot-selection in the starting lineup and initiate ball-movement far more so than he has for most of the season.

Even still, this seems like a horribly ill-advised move by Scott and one that completely misses the mark in terms of the Lakers’ long-term goals. The score was close, but it was still a loss and not all defeats are equal. It’s better for this team to lose with the future in mind than futilely abandon having any kind of foresight and still lose.

Three stars

Julius Randle, despite being demoted from his starting role, performed well as he finished the night with another double-double, grabbing 11 boards to go with 15 points.

Kobe Bryant turned over a new leaf in this game with efficient shooting and facilitating in the offense. He finished with 21 points on 8-16 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists.

Kyle Lowry burned the Lakers yet again in this contest as he scored 27 points on 9-19 shooting and 5-11 three-point shooting while dishing out six assists and grabbing seven rebounds.

Highlights

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/674027689758425089

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/674032401018953733

"Larry Nance!"

"Kobe for"

Odds

The Raptors were 11.5-point favorites in this contest, a spread that they failed to cover despite the victory. The two teams also hit the under on the 198.5-point O/U line.

Next: Lakers GIF Report Card: Week Six

Next Game

The Lakers play again on Wednesday as they continue their road trip to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Toronto will be at home when they play again on Wednesday, taking on the lethal San Antonio Spurs.