BONUS! Lakers Blow Big Lead, but Hang On to Beat Raptors 131-125. Redick Tweaks Rotation.
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For a half, at least, it looked like the Lakers were going to run away with Friday's game in Toronto. After a 43-19 first quarter, the Lakers entered the half with a 25 point lead, and given how shorthanded the Raptors currently are, an easy win seemed inevitable. 

Clearly that's what the Lakers thought. Toronto came out hard in the third quarter and brought themselves back, making it a much more competitive game than it should have been. Still, the Lakers got the win. That's the good part, but after Anthony Davis made it clear the Lakers need to be much, much better if they expect to be among the best teams in the West. On the defensive side, particularly, which is where they were particularly lax as the game went on. (A sloppy start offensively to the second half didn't help, either.) 

On an individual level, there were many positives. LeBron James and Anthony Davis were both great. Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell had nice games. Max Christie, in short minutes, had probably his best game of the year (low bar acknowledged). But broadly the game was a wasted opportunity to sit the stars down early and get some rest for the final two games of the trip. 

One interesting wrinkle - JJ Redick went back to a rotation more like last season's, pairing Russell and Davis together more with bench players, and putting James and Reaves together. It's a shift from the first five games, and something likely to continue going forward. 

**HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky **

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