The Raptors face the Clippers in the opener and the Lakers play the Portland Trail Blazers in the nightcap.
Advertisement
Toronto also posted a 123-107 home win February 6 to complete its first season sweep over the Clippers since 2009-10. The excitement for the present, joining those two with the 2014-15 breakout player, Jordan Clarkson, and a now healthy Julius Randle, buried beliefs about the Lakers being in the middle of a rebuilding project.
Raptors: Terrence Ross, who scored a career-high 51 points against the Clippers at Toronto on January 25, 2014, played 16 scoreless minutes in this one…. He had eight 40+ points games and eleven 10+ assists games in the season. The Lakers give up boatloads of open 3-point looks and nobody shoots the long ball more accurately than the Dubs.
D’Angelo Russell comes in looking to improve after some early season struggles and according to Medina, head coach Byron Scott expects to play the point guard around 30-35 minutes per game. However, Bryant’s influence on the team appeared to be one of a guiding figure more than the elite scorer that has terrorized the league for two decades.
But Scott said the 37-year-old created a more communicative flow on offense, his absence creating in-game chaos Monday in a 120-101 loss to Phoenix. Yes, Russell eventually got lumped in there as well for making the same mistake of going under the screen against Lillard, which is just asking to be lit up on the court.
“The hardest thing to do in the National Basketball Association is to play with a big lead”, Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “If somebody’s thinking of buying a ticket three years from now to see Kobe play, I would not do that”. He has the talent to do it.
Injuries have plagued him ever since, and this time playing through them has been tougher as father time has finally caught up with Kobe. The Lakers game was a paradigm for how the Raptors can overachieve this season. “He looked like he was lively, he was still very energetic the last seven minutes of the game”.
Or Bryant could just want to win more games. “Those days off do wonders”. “I was able to lift weights get my legs stronger”. Kobe does have a competitive side, but with the pain and a team that isn’t going to challenge for a championship anytime soon, maybe the time is now and not later.
He added, “I can’t believe I’m saying this s–“.
It hasn’t panned out, but more than anything one has to think the factor Bryant wants to see change is his usage. We connect at nearly 80%, while they are under 70%. From his perspective, it never looked like he was forcing the issue. I started shooting from the mid-range, gradually expanding outside the 3-point line. It’s just what they’re used to.
Bryant seemed to make a concerted effort to pass the ball.
Advertisement
Focusing primarily on attacking the rim and finding his teammates up until this point, Kyle Lowry caught fire from behind the arc on Friday versus the Lakers. Five-time All-Star Griffin can certainly be considered MVP material, although that will depend on how far his team can go.
