Balanced Lakers crush Raptors for 7th win in 8 games – Daily News

By IAN HARRISON The Associated Press

TORONTO — The Lakers did what good teams are supposed to do when they face struggling ones – take care of business as efficiently as possible.

LeBron James scored 23 points, Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors, 128-111, on Tuesday night for their seventh win in eight games.

D’Angelo Russell shot 7 for 14 from 3-point range and scored 25 points, Rui Hachimura had 14 and Max Christie 12 as the Lakers handed slumping Toronto a 14th consecutive loss.

The NBA’s career scoring leader, James shot 10 for 12 and had nine assists.

James came in having matched his career high with nine 3-pointers in Sunday’s win at Brooklyn. The 20-time All-Star took just one shot from distance against the Raptors, connecting with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

Davis sat out the entire fourth quarter, while James checked out with 9:22 remaining in the final period after the Lakers extended their lead to 27 at 109-82. The Lakers visit the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.

James said he appreciated the chance to get an early start on his postgame routine.

“It absolutely helps,” he said. “Every minute counts. I was able to get back here and get going on the treatment and my prep, and start preparing my body, hopefully, for tomorrow night.”

Lakers coach Darvin Ham said he expected to have both James and Davis available against the Wizards, who beat Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

“We’ll see how they feel when they wake up in the morning but, in all likelihood, I’m sure they’ll play,” Ham said.

James has scored 20 or more points in five of his past six meetings with Toronto.

“He’s just so elite,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “It’s amazing to see a player at this age, after 20 years in the NBA, to play at this high a level. We never saw anything like it.”

RJ Barrett scored 28 points and Immanuel Quickley added 20 for the Raptors. Toronto lost a franchise-worst 17 consecutive games in 1997-98.

Toronto’s Gary Trent Jr. sat to rest, while Barrett and Quickley returned after missing time because of personal reasons and reconditioning. The pair combined for 17 points in the first, but the Lakers closed the quarter with an 18-4 spurt to lead 34-25 after one.

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