Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic return, lead Lakers

The Lakers had been as complete as they’ve been in a while Sunday, giving Coach JJ Redick more weapons at his disposal at a time when their schedule has picked up the tempo.

They received star guard Luka Doncic, middle Deandre Ayton and backup middle Jaxson Hayes back against the Toronto Raptors at Crypto.com Arena. Only Austin Reaves (left calf pressure) remained sidelined.

Moreover, it was a back-to-back recreation that even LeBron James performed in a evening after the Lakers misplaced in Portland.

Simply put, the Lakers are a sound crew when healthy and actually good when Doncic, James and Ayton all rating at least 20 factors like they did in a 110-93 victory in which they held the Raptors to a season low in factors.

The Lakers entered the sport having misplaced 5 of six and had surrendered more than 130 factors in their last two losses.

“This is a very tough time of year for everybody in the NBA right now,” Redick said after his crew improved to 25-16 at the midway mark of the 82-game schedule. “…There are a number of teams that have rotation players, starter-level players, All-Star-level players like us that are out of the lineup or in and out of the lineup.

“It can make an already difficult stretch of the season even more difficult, and the guys have done a great job of just getting through the stretch fighting. And really, we’re starting to get healthy and hopefully we get AR back soon.”

Ayton was on top of his recreation, producing 25 factors and 13 rebounds. He was 10 for 10 from the sector and 5 for six from the free-throw line.

And the big 7-foot middle made historical past in the method. He grew to become just the third participant in Lakers historical past to shoot 100% from the sector on 10 makes an attempt with at least 10 rebounds, becoming a member of Wilt Chamberlain (March 11, 1969) and Mitch Kupchak (Nov. 10, 1981).

Ayton also grew to become the first participant in the NBA this season to report a 20-point recreation on good taking pictures with at least 10 makes an attempt and was the thirty fourth participant in league historical past to accomplish the feat.

“I definitely give it up to my teammates,” Ayton said. “They find me in the easiest spots ever and I got some easy ones tonight.”

Doncic registered 25 factors and seven assists and James had 24 factors and seven assists. Rui Hachimura got here off the bench to rating 10 factors.

Doncic and Ayton made their presence felt in the first half.

Despite selecting up three fouls in the half and getting hit with a technical foul in the first quarter, Doncic had 18 factors and 5 assists in the first 24 minutes. His three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left in the half gave the Lakers a 55-54 lead.

Ayton was energetic from the start, working the court, catching lob passes and scoring in the post, which allowed him to end the first half with 12 factors on six-for-six taking pictures and seven rebounds.

The Lakers will start what’s identified as the “Grammys trip” on Tuesday, an eight-game affair that will keep them on the street for about 2½ weeks. They will start at Denver and go to the Clippers, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, New York and Brooklyn.

This journey comes after the Lakers performed 5 video games in seven days, with two units of back-to-back video games.

“We finished five games in eight nights and started five games in seven nights, and tonight’s the culmination of that,” Redick said before Sunday’s recreation. “So it’s been a difficult stretch, particularly with injuries and certain games.”

The plan for the sport against the Raptors was to play 10 gamers, Redick said, a change from the same old nine-man rotation.

Redick performed all 10 gamers when the sport mattered the most and all of them performed a position in protecting the crew contemporary and energized.

Something the Lakers will need.

“I’m not blaming anything, but this in-season tournament cup with that break has just created a very imbalanced cadence of games,” Redick said. “And outside of All-Star break, I think our next two-day break between games is like the end of March, or something like that. So, you kind of have no choice but to prioritize the rest and recovery.”