Luka Doncic scored 45 points and grabbed 15 rebounds on Sunday as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 131-125 at Crypto.com Arena. Luka Doncic added six assists and made eight of 12 three point attempts in 35 minutes.
Austin Reaves added 19 points for Los Angeles, Walker Kessler scored 16 points with 15 rebounds and three blocked shots, and Collin Sexton added 14 points. The Lakers improved to 5-2 for the season and 3-1 at home, while Toronto fell to 3-3.
Los Angeles led by as many as 26 points and won the first quarter 36-23, but Toronto kept coming back. The Raptors pulled within 125-120 on a three point play by Jaden Bradley with 43.7 seconds left before the Lakers closed the game out from the free throw line.
Luka Doncic sets the tone early
Luka Doncic scored from the opening minutes and kept Toronto’s defence stretched with deep shooting and drives to the basket. Luka Doncic’s eight three pointers matched his season high, and his 15 rebounds gave the Lakers extra possessions on a night when they committed 24 turnovers.
The Lakers shot 53.8 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from three point range. That shooting covered for the turnovers, which let Toronto stay in a game that looked finished midway through the third quarter.
Scottie Barnes scored 29 points for Toronto, RJ Barrett added 22 points and 10 rebounds, Jamison Battle scored 20 points and Immanuel Quickley added 12. Toronto lost the opener of a four game road trip and fell to 1-3 since Kawhi Leonard sustained a knee injury, according to Field Level Media.
Luka Doncic and the late Toronto rally
Toronto cut a 26 point lead down to five in the closing minute, and the Lakers needed steady free throw shooting to finish the job. The rally was a repeat of a pattern from Friday, when Los Angeles blew a 25 point lead in a road loss to Golden State.
Coach JJ Redick spoke after the game about Reaves, who shot six of 16 from the field and has committed eight turnovers in each of his last two games. Redick said much of the problem came from second defenders arriving late in plays, and he said he had been talking to Reaves about making the right read.
Reaves finished with 19 points, three rebounds and four assists in 39 minutes. His scoring helped, but the turnovers gave Toronto chances it did not waste, and the Lakers will want that number down before their next game.
What the win means for the Lakers
The win kept Los Angeles in good shape at home, where they have now won three of four games. Luka Doncic has carried the scoring in the early season, and Sunday was another game in which his shooting decided the result before the closing minutes made it look closer than it was.
Toronto heads on with its road trip after a loss that showed both its fight and its limits. The Raptors scored enough to threaten a 26 point lead, but they never led late, and they left Los Angeles with a 3-3 record.
For Luka Doncic, the game followed a familiar pattern from the early season. He has been the Lakers’ main scorer, and Sunday was the second time in a week that his shooting decided a game before the closing minutes made the score look closer than the run of play suggested. The 45 points came on a night when the Lakers needed every one of them, because Toronto kept finding ways back into the game.
The turnovers remain the worry for Los Angeles. Luka Doncic and his teammates gave the ball away 24 times, and a better shooting night from Toronto might have punished that number. The Lakers won because they shot 53.8 percent from the field, but Redick will want the ball kept safer when Miami visits on Monday.
The Lakers play the Miami Heat at home on Monday night, and the Raptors continue their trip with a game at the Los Angeles Clippers.