Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Lessons on Play-In performance against Toronto

Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam sent limos for the Los Angeles Lakers!

Writer’s note: To the casuals that want to flood the comment section with questions wondering why the Lakers did not pull the trigger on a trade for Kyle Lowry…SAVE THEM!

The Los Angeles Lakers were supposed to be fine (At least that’s what you hear on TV!) when LeBron James and Anthony Davis got back in the lineup. At least those two would bring enough firepower to beat a short-handed Raptors team that will be in Canada watching the playoffs in a couple of weeks.

Instead, something strange happened. Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry gave the Lakers the business.

According to NBA.com/stats, Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry made team history by being the first pair of Raptors teammates to each tally 35+ point double-doubles in the same game.

It is very difficult for two players to totally dismantle and expose a defense the way they did, but these two players got exactly what they wanted and took advantage.

Kyle Lowry

At this point, Lowry will be done in a Raptors uniform in a few weeks. If that’s the case, he sure gave the Toronto fans a sweet goodbye gift. He hit over half of the team’s 15 shots from behind the arc, shooting 8-13.

One of them bounced halfway to the rafters before dropping in. Every time the Lakers made a run, Kyle shut the door with a timely 3-point shot.

What was more impressive than his 37 point outburst? An assist/turnover ratio of 11 assists to one turnover.

Pascal Siakam

After a very inefficient performance in Tampa when he shot 7-21 from the field including six misses from behind the arc, he was aggressive attacking the basket and dogged every Lakers player in front of him.

Play one: Siakam plays the high pick and roll with Lowry to slow AD down. Pascal gets easy access to the paint and scores with a spin move to the basket.

Play two: Siakam then isolates on the right side against Markieff Morris. Simple step-back jumper that falls through the hoop.

Play three: Siakam abuses Morris with the same spin move he used on AD. Simple floater over Keef and Montrezl Harrell. Morris was not seen again shortly after this sequence.

Play four: Siakam gets into the triple threat position and drives into the paint getting Kyle Kuzma off balance. Then he hits him with the same step back for an easy 15 footer.

The Lake Show had no answer for him. Eventually, LeBron James took a shot at guarding him to no avail.

Speaking of LeBron James, he shared his feelings on the play-in tournament that the Los Angeles Lakers are currently facing now that they reside in the 7th spot in the Western Conference. Read on to see what he thinks about the new playoff addition and how he played!