Without Kawhi Leonard in the lineup, the Toronto Raptors figured to be in tough against the Los Angeles Lakers on their home floor. If you looked at the score of the last three-quarters, they were. The Lakers “won” those by a 90 – 79 total, but they couldn’t overcome the enormous 42 – 17 bulge Toronto piled up in Q1.
Let’s consider what we learned from this game which can help our team in the future.
The second unit is downright wobbly
An enormous strength of last season’s Raptors was the bench mob. They could be counted on, night in and night out, to put a beating on opponents.