Julius Randle lead all Lakers in scoring, racking up 18 points off the bench. But, the Raptors came back and rallied behind Kyle Lowry's triple-double and DeMar DeRozan's 24 point performance to beat the Lakers 101-92. Kyle Kuzma added a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds and Jordan Clarkson added 11 points. Brook Lopez was the only starter in double figures, tallying up 13 points to go with 5 rebounds.
Final Score: vs. Toronto 101-92 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20171027/TORLAL#/recap
Highlights: *courtesy of MLG Highlights*
Now that everybody has seen the stats sheet, it is clear that the 2nd unit of the Lakers carried the team. The rotation lineup consisting of Kuzma, Randle, Clarkson, Hart, and Brewer was an effective rotation that gave the Lakers some needed tempo and scoring firepower. You had Randle pushing the ball up court and kicking it to either Kuzma or Clarkson for scoring options. Kuzma, in particular, flashed that he can be an all-around offensive arsenal. He was looking to push and attack the basketball. The one player that I didn't mention is 30th overall pick, Josh Hart. He got a couple of nice buckets in, finishing with 9 points. You'd have to wonder if Luke Walton's gonna give Hart an extended look and maybe move Clarkson back to Point to back up Lonzo considering Tyler Ennis has been ineffective and Alex Caruso not seeing the court since opening night against the Clippers. Anyway, back onto the 2nd unit, that unit helped the Lakers build up a lead against the Raptors by as many as 10 in the 2nd quarter. In the 3rd quarter, when the Raptors made a run behind Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, the 2nd unit again provided the Lakers a much-needed spark in the 3rd quarter and kept the team neck-and-neck against the Raptors before eventually losing in the 4th quarter. That's how effective the 2nd unit was and Luke Walton might've found a rotation that works in case the starters are ineffective. Speaking of ineffective starters, that's what they were. Brook Lopez was the only player in the starting five that came to play last night. Brandon Ingram had a quiet game. KCP, quiet game. Larry Nance, Jr., quiet game. Lonzo Ball, despite stuffing the stats sheet with 7 rebounds and 6 assists was relatively quiet. There was not enough of Zo or B.I. attacking the rim, which they should be doing to get themselves going. And overall, the starting five was terrible on defense, especially transition defense. I counted about 5 or 7 plays in the highlights where they were caught napping. Kyle Lowry was heaving a couple of passes from beyond half court to sprinting Raptor players for easy deuces. That's something the Lakers are trying to install with Lonzo on the floor and the Raptors, being the veteran team that they are, made the right adjustments in the 2nd half in exploiting the Lakers' weaknesses in transition.
*Quick Fact Check and Commentary on tonight's matchup @ Utah will be available after the Raiders-Bills Full Postgame Recap tomorrow*
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