The Lakers had been as entire as they’ve been shortly Sunday, giving Coach JJ Redick extra weapons at his disposal at a time when their schedule has picked up the tempo.
They obtained Luka Doncic (left groin soreness), middle Deandre Ayton (left knee soreness) and backup middle Jaxson Hayes (left hamstring tendinopathy) again within the fold for Sunday night time’s recreation towards the Toronto Raptors at Crypto.com Area. Solely Austin Reaves (left calf pressure) remained sidelined.
Extra so, it was a back-to-back recreation that even LeBron James performed in an evening after the Lakers misplaced in Portland.
Merely put, the Lakers are a sound basketball workforce when wholesome and they’re actually good when Doncic, James and Ayton all rating at the very least 20 factors in a recreation like they did in a 110-93 victory wherein they held the Raptors to a season-low in factors.
The Lakers entered the sport having misplaced 5 of their final six video games and had surrendered over 130 factors of their final two losses.
“This can be a very powerful time of 12 months for everyone within the NBA proper now,” stated Redick after his workforce improved to 25-16 on the midway mark of their 82-game schedule. “…There are a variety of groups which have rotation gamers, starter-level gamers, all-star degree gamers like us which are out of the lineup or out and in of the lineup.
“It will probably make an already troublesome stretch of the season much more troublesome, and the fellows have executed a fantastic job of simply getting by means of the stretch combating. And actually, we’re beginning to get wholesome and hopefully we get AR (Austin Reaves) again quickly.”
Ayton was on high of his recreation, producing a double-double with 25 factors and 13 rebounds. He additionally was 10 for 10 from the sector and 5 for six from the free-throw line.
And the massive 7-foot middle made historical past within the course of. He grew to become simply the third participant in Lakers historical past to shoot 100% from the sector on 10 makes an attempt with at the very least 10 rebounds, becoming a member of Wilt Chamberlain (March 11, 1969) and Mitch Kupchak (Nov. 10, 1981).
Ayton additionally grew to become the primary participant within the NBA this season to report a 20-point recreation on good capturing with at the very least 10 field-goal makes an attempt and he was the thirty fourth participant in league historical past to perform the feat.
“I positively give it as much as my teammates,” Ayton stated. “They discover me within the best spots ever and I obtained some straightforward ones tonight, for certain.”
Doncic registered 25 factors and 7 assists and James had 24 factors and 7 assists.
Rui Hachimura got here off the bench to attain 10 factors for a Lakers workforce that entered the sport having misplaced 5 of their final six video games.
Doncic and Ayton made their presence felt within the first half.
Regardless of choosing up three fouls within the half and getting hit with a technical foul within the first quarter, Doncic had 18 factors and 5 assists within the first 24 minutes. His three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left within the second quarter gave the Lakers a 55-54 lead.
Ayton was energetic from the beginning, operating the courtroom, catching lob passes and scoring within the publish, which allowed him to complete the primary half with 12 factors on six-for-six capturing and 7 rebounds.
The Lakers will start what’s often known as the “Grammys Journey” on Tuesday, an eight-game affair that can have them on the highway for about two and a half weeks.
They may begin at Denver and go to the Clippers, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, the Knicks and the Nets.
This journey will come off the Lakers taking part in 5 video games in seven days, of which there have been two units of back-to-back video games.
“We completed 5 video games in eight nights and began 5 video games in seven nights, and tonight’s the fruits of that,” Redick stated earlier than Sunday’s recreation. “So it’s been a troublesome stretch, significantly with accidents and sure video games.”
The plan for the sport towards the Raptors was to play 10 gamers, Redick stated, a change from the standard nine-man rotation.
All 10 of the gamers Redick performed when the sport mattered probably the most and all of them performed a job in conserving the workforce contemporary and energized.
One thing the Lakers will want going ahead.
“Once more, I’m not blaming something, however this in-season event cup with that break has simply created a really imbalanced cadence of video games,” stated Redick, referring to the NBA Cup event. “And out of doors of All-Star break, I believe our subsequent two-day break between video games is like the tip of March, or one thing like that. So, you type of don’t have any selection however to prioritize the remaining and restoration.”
