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For the 75th time in his NBA career, LeBron James stepped onto the court to face the Toronto Raptors. And by Friday, James’ team had won 56 of them, including a trio of playoff series.
However, the fans in Toronto always enjoy James’ annual appearance in Canada, cheering every time he enters the game – only to see him leave town with another win.
Friday, it was a 14-point first quarter to set the tone, James casually harassing a young Toronto team early before the Lakers hung on to win 131-125.
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Before the game, James bounced in the locker room, the illness that had slowed him down for the past week mostly out of his system. He arrived at the arena wearing “Scream’s” Ghostface mask and wasted little time terrorizing the Raptors even though Halloween was a day early.
Coming off their first two losses of the season, James and the Lakers re-committed to many principle coaches. JJ Redick tried to instill them early this season.
Stagnant against Cleveland on Wednesday, the Lakers opened Friday’s game with speed and precision and quickly blew out a 21-point lead, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic angrily calling timeouts every few possessions.
But while the Lakers led by 25 at halftime, the Raptors were far from over, climbing back into the game and getting into single digits several times in the second half.
But James’ playmaking — he had 27 points and 10 assists — combined with big shots from Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell and a return to form for Anthony Davis all kept the Raptors from ever pushing ahead.
Gradey Dick scored 31 points and had a look to cut it to three with less than a minute left, but the shot went wide. RJ Barrett scored 33 to lead the Raptors, with Toronto playing without starters Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley.
Davis made a pair of free throws to ice the Laker’s fourth win of the season. He led the Lakers with 38 points and 12 rebounds. Davis scored at least 30 in each of the four Laker wins.
While the game got tight in the second half after Toronto outscored the Lakers by 14 in the third quarter, the only significant hiccup came in the second when Austin Reaves rolled his ankle and had to return to the locker room.
He was able to play in the second half, although he showed some signs of discomfort.
The Lakers are still without Christian Wood and Jared Vanderbilt as the pair recover from offseason surgeries. Redick said Vanderbilt was making progress, but he wasn’t close to playing.
“He had some discomfort, no setbacks. I think the discomfort is normal because he has increased his activities on the court because he is coming off two surgeries,” Redick said before the game. “But yes, he is making progress. But I don’t think he’s a day or two away from playing. We’ll have another update in a week or so.”
The Lakers journey continues on Monday in Detroit against the Pistons.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
