Gameday: Raptors @ Lakers, January 9

A victory tonight would guarantee at least a .500 record on this six game West coast trip. At this point, it would be disappointing if that wasn’t reached considering how the Raptors have looked in 2024.

Toronto is 2-1 so far, with wins in Memphis and Golden State. The offensive numbers continue to climb post trade and it only took RJ Barrett four games with his hometown team to nearly break Chris Boucher’s record of most points in a game for a Canadian playing for the Raps (38).

Meanwhile, the Lakers are never boring.

Raptors scope: 15-21, 11th in East | Offensive Rating: 16th (115.1) | Defensive Rating: 18th (115.6)

Toronto owns a 123.6 offensive rating this month, good for sixth in the league. That’s above the Indiana Pacers season average of 122.6 which tops the NBA. The Raptors dominated the Warriors on Sunday, taking a 27 point lead into halftime. Boucher, Dennis Schroder and Gary Trent Jr. all had double digit scoring nights off the bench. This is closer to what Darko Rajakovic envisioned entering this season.

Toronto has been a bottom 10 team defensively in 2024 but managed to hold Steph Curry to only nine points. Steph failed to make a single three (0-9), something that he nearly went five years without doing before Portland snapped his NBA record 268 game streak last month. The defence minus Jakob Poeltl (sprained ankle) will need help dealing with Anthony Davis in this game.

Sidenotes:

• Scottie Barnes could use a breakout game. He’s averaging 16.5 points, 3.5 boards and 5.5 assists this month. Those are rather mild numbers compared to the 23.8 ppg/9.9 rpg/6.1 apg clip in December. Adding two more viable offensive options in Immanuel Quickley and Barrett has lightened Scottie’s usage, which is further explained below.

• Check out the wholesome content during the day off yesterday. IQ is apparently rusty with the two wheelers.

Lakers scope: 18-19, 10th in West | Offensive Rating: 23rd (111.7) | Defensive Rating: 12th (113.1)

Transitioning from good Raptor vibes to turmoil in Laker land. They won on Sunday against the Clippers to snap a four game losing streak but before that things were ugly. LeBron James stated “we suck right now” after a loss to the Grizzlies on Friday. He also reportedly said that Bronny could start for the Lakers right now off camera. Talk about a vote of confidence (LeGM mode?)

It was also a horrendous time for Bron to be asked about Ricky Rubio’s retirement. Asking on Sunday after a Laker win would have probably got a better response, but the reporter was just doing his job.

Overall, LA came into this season pretty confident in challenging the Denver Nuggets for a championship run. Instead the Lakers are a game under .500, swapping places with the Warriors on a nightly basis to be out of the playoff picture all together. Darvin Ham might be on the hot seat despite an unexpected WCF run last season. It wasn’t too long ago that Frank Vogel was fired despite winning a championship in 2020. The most concerning part is this is all with a healthy LeBron and AD. They’ve combined to miss only five games so far and are both averaging 25.2 points. Yes, the Lakers won the In-Season Tournament but are 12-19 in other games. Something might change sooner rather than later.

Game Info

Tip-Off: 10:30pm EST | TV: TSN 1/3/4 | Radio: Sportsnet 590

Raptors Lineup

Jakob Poeltl (ankle) will miss his first game of the season after a sprain vs the Warriors. Otto Porter Jr. (knee) is doubtful. Christian Koloko (respiratory) remains out. Gradey Dick, Javon Freeman-Liberty and Markquis Nowell are with the 905. Curious to see who Darko starts at centre.

PG: Immanuel Quickley, Dennis Schroder

SG: RJ Barrett, Gary Trent Jr.

SF: Scottie Barnes, Jalen McDaniels, Garrett Temple

PF: Pascal Siakam, Thaddeus Young

C: Chris Boucher, Jontay Porter

Lakers Lineup

LeBron James (ankle) is questionable. Anthony Davis (ankle) is probable. Rui Hachimura (calf) is doubtful. Gabe Vincent (knee) will be re-evaluated in six weeks after surgery.

PG: Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell

SG: Cam Reddish, Max Christie, Jalen Hood-Schifino

SF: Taurean Prince, Maxwell Lewis

PF: LeBron James, Jarred Vanderbilt

C: Anthony Davis, Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes

The Line

Lines are from Fanduel from 1am ET.

The Lakers getting a much needed win on Sunday probably added a couple points to this line. Toronto not having Poeltl to deal with Anthony Davis also has an effect.