Those of Toronto defeated the Angelenos 126-113, who could not count on their two big stars

Schroeder’s 18 points weren’t enough against 25 from VanVleet and Siakam, who also completed the double-double with 10 rebounds.

The raptors I know imposed no problem at home 126-113 to some soulless lakers that they appeared in Toronto without their two main characters, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who doomed the game before it started. Raptors players Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet were the game’s leading scorers with 25 points each. Additionally, Siakam had a double-double with 10 rebounds. His teammate Scottie Barnes also finished the night with a double-double of 13 points and 17 rebounds. Among the Lakers, the top scorer was Dennis Schroder, with 18 points. Russell Westbrook and Thomas Bryant each had 16 points. And Damian Jones had a double-double of 10 rebounds and 10 points.

Before the game started, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said the Spaniard Juancho Hernangómez will be on leave between 7 and 10 more days while recovering from a sprained right ankle suffered last Saturday during the game against the Orlando Magic.

The Lakers arrived in Toronto with little hope of snatching a victory in the Canadian city. Of the previous seven games the two teams had played in Toronto, the Raptors had won six. What’s more, the Raptors are tough to beat at home, where they’ve lost just three of 12 games played this season so far at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. And with the absence of James, with left ankle discomfort, and Davis, with an unspecified illness, the task of beating the Raptors seemed like an impossible mission for the Angelenos. The Toronto crowd also didn’t like that LeBron James came to Toronto but didn’t play. While a few seconds before the start of the match, the loudspeaker announces the victims, the approximately 19,800 spectators burst into whistles.

The game started badly for the Lakers. For the first two minutes, the Lakers played without Russell Westbrook, who wasn’t even sitting on the bench. When Westbrook left the locker room with 9:41 left in the first quarter, the score was 11-0 in favor of the Raptors. From the start on the track, Westbrook provided an assist to Austin Reaves who opened the scoring for the Lakers with a three-pointer. His entry gave the Lakers some air. A Lakers guard drive midway through the first quarter put the Angels just two points behind the Raptors, 17-15. But that was the last time the Californians were near the hosts. By the end of the first quarter, the Raptors were leading eight, 39-31. And 12 minutes later, when both teams went to half-time, the lead had increased to 70-47 after the Lakers scored just 16 points in the second quarter. At that time, Fred VanVleet already had 18 points and Pascal Siakam 16. Among the Lakers, the most effective was Dennis Schroder with 12.

In the second half, and without much effort, the advantage of the Raptors reached 27 points, showing that without James the Lakers are a mediocre team. At the time, the main spectacle at Scotiabank Arena was the stadium security struggle with fans wanting to climb into the Lakers dugout and take a photo with LeBron James. Meanwhile, the Lakers star only enjoyed a bag of popcorn. James, who rushed onto the pitch when team-mate Juan Toscano-Anderson was injured with nine minutes remaining, also quickly left the pitch as soon as the final whistle sealed the match. 126-113 with which the game ended without pain or glory.