Coming off a hard-fought victory on Friday night, the Toronto Raptors will look to put together a streak of wins as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers in a Sunday matinee matchup in front of the ACC crowd.
The Raptors (20-18) are a noticeably different team from the one that took the floor against the Lakers (15-25) over a month ago. Toronto’s team has turned up their compete level, and Los Angeles’ team has slumped; with Kobe Bryant going down yet again with another injury. It’s safe to say that Kobe’s annual visit up north won’t feel quite the same this year. This particular matchup (which regularly takes place in January), is usually a highly touted one— it’s the Black Mamba’s only time on the ACC floor, and now, with Steve Nash on the Lakers, it’s Captain Canada’s lone regular season trip to Toronto as well. I’ve got some bad news in case you’ve been under a rock for the past while: Nash has only played six games this season, and has been sitting out with a back injury for quite some time now. Not exactly the game that ticketholders may have hoped for. Anyways…
Here are the Cage’s 5 Keys to the Game:
Jump On LA Early:
With the Lakers on their yearly “Grammy trip” which sees them play away from the Staples Center for about two weeks, the team is bound to be somewhat fatigued. This particular game is set for a 1 o’clock tip, which is 10AM Pacific time back in California. Los Angeles may stumble out of the gate as their players become accustomed to the early scheduling of this game. It’s important for the Toronto Raptors to take advantage by setting the tone and jumping on their opponents early.
Go For Seven Straight At Home:
The current home win streak for the Raptors stands at six right now, but this game presents a golden opportunity to make that number hit seven. Despite LA’s lack of star power for today, the crowd still should have a good amount of energy as they cheer on the surging home team. The Raptors can protect homecourt by feeding off the energy of the supporting ACC audience and making the Lakers fight an uphill battle all afternoon. Also, the fact that the Raptors have never won a season series against the Lakers should provide some added incentive for Toronto to bring the intensity today.
Pressure Laker Shooters:
This team is 5th in the entire league when it comes to three-point attempts per game. Boasting the likes of Kendall Marshall, Jodie Meeks, and Nick Young (who is returning from suspension for this) among others, the Lakers may be short on household names, but they aren’t short on players who have no fear in jacking up attempts from downtown. The Raptors need to pressure the long-range threats of LA in order to limit the Mike D’Antoni-led Laker offense.
Attack The Paint:
Need more stats? The Lakers rank dead last in the league when it comes to allowing points in the paint, letting their opponents score an average of 48.8 inside the key every night. Dwane Casey will probably make getting close to the basket on offense a point of emphasis for his guys this afternoon. If Toronto can take advantage of this significant weakness that Los Angeles has, their odds of victory should skyrocket.
Stay Composed:
Execute on offense and don’t force shots if the need isn’t there. Keep moving the rock and limit turnovers. Don’t get flustered if the Lakers make a run, and most importantly: don’t take this LA team lightly.
X-Factor: Jonas Valanciunas
After going head-to-head with the likes of Nikola Pecovic, Jonas Valanciunas should have an easier game this afternoon. Against a weak Los Angeles interior defense, Valanciunas may be able to have more of a scoring impact in this matchup than he has in any game over this past week. Pau Gasol won’t be able to guard both JV and Amir Johnson.
