Quick Reaction: Lakers 98, Raptors 111

Siakam knew with KLow out, he’d take a large chunk of responsibility in terms of play initiation and scoring. He missed more shots than usual, but set the tone throughout the game by constantly attacking a weak Lakers interior. Sometimes you watch this dude’s motor and it leaves you in complete awe. He just… keeps… on… going.

Leonard played like a true superstar tonight, mixing up his inside-outside game to perfection. We saw aggressive drive-ins, pull-up jumpshots, backdowns, and a whole ‘lotta threes. Just a phenomenal performance from New Balance’s finest.

Let’s keep it real. This was one of his better games as a Raptor. It’s always good to see Marc heavily involved in the offense early in the game. This may have been by design, but Gasol himself was demanding the ball on many possessions (more good news). This is the player Toronto needs down the stretch.

Despite not shooting well to start the game, Lin was attacking the boards like his life depended on it. Lowry (out) has always been a guard that has excelled in rebounding, undeterred by his small stature. Lin is a larger guard, so it’s good to see him contributing in that department. He was also pushing the pace incredibly well all night long.

Toronto plays better basketball on both ends when Green is on the floor. He’ll never truly blow up the box score, but almost always has a favorable plus/minus and hits massive shots when needed. His proactive play certainly rubs off on others. Still would’ve liked him to score a bit more by looking for his shot.

This guy. McCaw is simply a much smarter basketball player than most role-players in the association. He understands spacing concepts with Nurse’s system, is a fantastic cutter, and a pesky defender with great instincts.

It’s tough to grade Anunoby when the bulk of his game assignment is quite literally stopping LeBron James. That task is hard enough in and of itself. Other than that, Toronto just needed him to hit open shots. He did an alright job, overall.

Supernova. Norm blew this game wide open and was responsible for a surge of scoring that left the Lakers dumbfounded. This has been a year of resurgence for Powell after a disappointing season last year. Toronto has relied on him an awful lot recently, and he’ll most definitely be a part of the upcoming playoff rotation. A wonderful all-around game from Powell.

Miller came in, hit a couple 3PT bombs and played some solid defense. Cool tidbit from tonight? Malcolm literally played earlier in the day for the Raptors 905 in the same arena. Gotta love the annual G-League/NBA doubleheader in Toronto.

Frontcourt rotation was thin with Serge out so Boucher was guaranteed to at least have a partial role tonight. He didn’t have a ton of responsibility, with Nurse expecting him to protect the rim and stretch the floor. Still a little bit on the ‘wild’ side of defending, but at least it makes for good television.

Not enough from Moreland for a grade. Did look extremely active on the boards, though. Passed it around well, too. So I guess just close your eyes and imagine his grade.

Came in for the last minute. Probably should’ve came in earlier considering the lead and how gassed Siakam looked. It is what it is.

Considering Nurse was missing his star guard in Lowry, and a key frontcourt piece in Ibaka — he did a solid job. The game plan for LeBron was clear and the defensive rotations were solid for most of the game. I loved Nurse forcing Kuzma to defend early, taking him out the game with foul trouble. Overall, the rotations were deep and the intensity was there.