(TOR VS LAL) Raptors Lose to Austin Reeves (and the rest of the Lakers)

Toronto contained Lebron James, but Austin Reeves became prime Micheal Jordan tonight.

Image by thestar.com

Coming off a win against the Trail Blazers, the Toronto Raptors were looking to beat a tough Lakers team. Facing them would be a litmus test, as Los Angeles is one of the best teams in the league.

However, they didn't have Luka Doncic in tonight's game. One would think that if they could contain Lebron, they would win.

They did that, and still lost. More specifically, they lost to Austin Reeves, who decided to have a generational performance out of nowhere to single handedly win the game for the Lakers. That's what undrafted players do

The first two quarters weren't great. They were bad defensively, and Reeves and Ayton went to work for the Lakers. We really must Poetl down low. We went into the half down 9 points.

As the Raptors do, they had a great third quarter. They had a balanced attack, dropping 40 points, with all five starters being in double digits come the end of the quarter.

Unfortunately, Reeves single-handedly kept the Lakers in the game, dropping 22 of the Lakers' 33 points in the quarter. I'd never even heard of this guy before tonight, but he decided to have the game of his life for some reason. Toronto went into the fourth quarter down 2 points.

The last quarter saw the two teams trade leads. The Raptors had the lead several times, including with under 3 minutes to go, but the game was tied with 10 seconds left.

The ball was inbounded to James, who drove to the paint, swung it out to Hachimura in the corner. He drained a buzzer-beating three to win the game. 123-120 Lakers win.

Toronto kept Lebron in check. He had only 8 points, ending his consecutive streak of double-digit scoring. It's unfortunate that Austin Reeves decided to lock the fuck in, but you can't plan for that. They need to start games better and stop relying on third quarters to come back in games.

Scottie Barnes Award: Scottie Barnes

I've renamed the award after him since he's the best player every game. 23 points tonight, while playing great defense on Lebron as well.

Next Up: Vs Hornets

Let's get revenge on them. A new winning streak would be nice.

Article by Jacksen MacLean.