Deandre Ayton has big night as Lakers run past the Raptors

The Lakers were as whole as they have been in a while Sunday, giving Coach JJ Redick more weapons at his disposal at a time when their schedule has picked up the pace.

They got Luka Doncic (left groin soreness), center Deandre Ayton (left knee soreness) and backup center Jaxson Hayes (left hamstring tendinopathy) back in the fold for Sunday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors. Only Austin Reaves (left calf strain) remained sidelined.

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More so, it was a back-to-back game that even LeBron James played in a night after the Lakers lost in Portland.

Simply put, the Lakers are a sound basketball team when healthy and they are really good when Doncic, James and Ayton score at least 20 points in a game as they did in a 110-93 victory over the Raptors at Crypto.com Arena.

Ayton was on top of his game, producing a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds. He also was 10 for 10 from the field and five for six from the free-throw line.

Doncic registered 25 points and seven assists and James had 24 points and seven assists.

Rui Hachimura came off the bench to score 10 points for a Lakers (25-16) team that entered the game having lost five of their last six games.

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Doncic and Ayton made their presence felt in the first half.

Despite picking up three fouls in the half and getting hit with a technical foul in the first quarter, Doncic had 18 points and five assists in the first 24 minutes. His three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left in the second quarter gave the Lakers a 55-54 lead.

Read more: Plaschke: After Rich Paul drama, fans favor Austin Reaves over LeBron James and you can’t blame them

Ayton was active from the start, running the court, catching lob passes and scoring in the post, which allowed him to finish the first half with 12 points on six-for-six shooting and seven rebounds.

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The Lakers will begin what’s known as the “Grammys Trip” on Tuesday, an eight-game affair that will have them on the road for about two and a half weeks.

They will start at Denver and go to the Clippers, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, the Knicks and the Nets.

This trip will come off the Lakers…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/deandre-ayton-big-night-lakers-050647902.html

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Publish date : 2026-01-19 05:06:00

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