Iztok Franko: Lakers-Raptors observations dispatched!

December 5, 2025 at 8:18 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Down Luka Dončić and Marcus Smart, the Lakers won another close game, beating the Toronto Raptors 123–120 on a last-second Rui Hachimura game winner. It was their second victory at the buzzer after Austin Reaves sank one in Game 5 against the Timberwolves.

With another win in a close game, the Lakers remain the only unbeaten clutch team at 7–0. Even the juggernaut Thunder have dropped one and sit second at 9–1.

After a disappointing loss against the Suns, the Lakers bounced back again and still have not lost two consecutive games this season, picking up a huge road win against a surging Raptors team that ranks top ten on offense and top five on defense.

Two players I was critical of as a defensive hustle combo in my 20-game check, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton, made the two winning plays on the final possessions — Ayton getting a crucial stop on Brandon Ingram’s drive, and Hachimura sinking the game winner from the corner.

And lastly, LeBron James, like so many times before in his career, chose to make the right play over chasing his own shot that would have kept his 1,297-game streak with at least 10 points alive.

digginbasketball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s notes:

A tightly connected, resilient group (VIDEO)

Austin Reaves keeps showing he is an All-NBA player (VIDEO)

LeBron compensating struggles with IQ and playmaking

Increased hustle for just enough stops

More Adou Thiero minutes please (VIDEO)

Bonus: a quick Celtics preview

1-A tightly connected, resilient group (VIDEO)

I am often critical of this team’s lack of cohesion on defense, but I think that’s mostly due to a lack of defensive talent and athleticism. What the Lakers keep showing us this season is that they are a resilient group that responds to disappointing losses with bounce-back performances and keeps winning even when missing several key players.

The play that led to the game winner was the perfect example: Reaves patiently waited to draw a late-clock double team, then gave up the ball to James in the middle, and James made the right play by swinging it to Hachimura in the corner. After going scoreless on one shot in the previous game, Hachimura calmly sank the game-winning three.

2-Austin Reaves keeps showing he is an All-NBA player (VIDEO)

With Dončić unavailable, Reaves showed once again that the Lakers have another creator who could easily be a primary option on almost any other team. Reaves had another astonishingly dominant game, scoring 44 points on 13-of-21 shooting, 5-of-11 from three, sinking 13 of his 15 free throws, and adding 10 assists. His 22-point third-quarter scoring explosion was reminiscent of the best Dončić or Kyrie Irving takeovers I’ve seen over the past couple of years.

The Lakers are 3–1 this season when Reaves is the main cog with Dončić sidelined, and Reaves is averaging 41 points in those games.

The Lakers might not only have the best scoring duo or the best backcourt in the NBA, they might have two legit All-NBA players at the moment, with Reaves joining Dončić in the top ten of most advanced metrics this season.

3-LeBron compensating struggles with IQ and playmaking

If Reaves’ ascendance to All-NBA level has been the most positive big-picture development for the Lakers this season, LeBron’s physical struggles have been the most concerning.

For a third game in a row, James looked to have no lift on his drives or his shots, struggling to finish at the rim. He shot 4-of-17 from the field last night, scoring only 8 points after scoring 10 and 13 in the previous two games. On top of that, many of his misses at the rim function like turnovers, as he often doesn’t get back in transition, giving opponents easy opportunities. The Raptors outscored the Lakers 21–11 on fast-break points. Postgame, James explained that he’s still trying to find his rhythm after missing training camp and the first 14 games of the season, but watching one of the greatest athletes of all time look like a mere mortal is rough at the moment.

However, even playing without the athletic edge for the first time in his career, James is still a superior decision-maker and passer. In addition to the final delivery to Hachimura, he made several other plays for his teammates and finished the night with 11 assists.

4-Increased hustle for just enough stops

This was far from an impressive defensive performance. The Lakers’ recipe for wins this season has been awesome offense and just enough hustle on the other end, and this was another exhibit of that. Led by Reaves’ shot-making and another super-efficient 8-of-11 night from Deandre Ayton, the Lakers scored at a rate of almost 134 points per 100 possessions, which should get them the win on most nights. In this one, it almost wasn’t enough, because despite the Lakers being the visibly better half-court offense (there was a 23-point-per-100-possessions gap in half-court efficiency), the Raptors made up for it with transition play and by outhustling the Lakers on the offensive glass.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

Just enough hustle and defense is the other Lakers theme this season, and last night was an upgrade in that department compared to the Suns game. The Lakers had one of their better offensive rebounding games as well and finished with seven steals and seven blocks. Jake LaRavia earned extended minutes and justified them with one of his better hustle games, providing much better resistance against Brandon Ingram than Hachimura did. Both big men, Ayton and Hayes, blocked and contested enough shots, and Gabe Vincent had some good hustle moments too.

Overall, there were still too many breakdowns, especially defending away actions for Ingram and defensing the Raptors stretch bigs popping up for threes. Once again, the starter stints in both halves were uninspiring. But addressing those, as I wrote in my 20-game check, will require rotation or roster changes.

5-More Adou Thiero minutes please (VIDEO)

The Lakers’ lack of athleticism and speed is glaring and well documented, so anytime the biggest internal hope of filling that gap, rookie Adou Thiero, gets minutes, he draws special attention.

Last night, Thiero logged a career-high 10 minutes and showed flashes of why he should be getting more, as his potential development into a rotation player this season would be a big boost. He made an and-one on an up-and-under move, driving decisively against a close-out, then showed off his length and speed by getting his hands on a ball no other player on the roster probably could, and crashed the glass for an offensive rebound.

Thiero has gotten a couple of minutes in six of the last eight games. The next step is for Redick to trust and test him in a longer stint in one of the upcoming games. The risk versus potential reward is more than worth it for the Lakers.

Bonus: a quick Celtics preview

Both teams will be on the second night of a back-to-back, and most of the key stars could be missing. Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić will be out, while the status of Marcus Smart, LeBron James (he skipped the previous back-to-back game), and Jaylen Brown (illness) is still unclear, which makes a preview hard to do.

What is clear is that whoever plays for the Celtics, Joe Mazzulla will have his team playing hard, especially against their biggest rival. Despite Tatum’s injury and losing three key rotation players in Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis, the 13–9 Celtics are surprisingly competitive.

Brown is having an incredible season, averaging 29/6/5 as the head of the snake for the fourth-best ranked offense, while the rest of the scoring comes from their three-guard combo of Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Anfernee Simons. Ex-Celtic Smart would come in very handy trying to keep up with a fast-moving, trigger-happy Celtics team that still ranks in the top five in three-point frequency.

The Celtics are a slow-paced team (they rank last in pace in the NBA), but that might change in this game. Their guard- and three-point-heavy rotation, with only one true big man in Neemias Queta, might try to punish the Lakers’ weaknesses — defending the three-point line with their bigs and getting back in the open floor.

Comments

LakerTom says

December 5, 2025 at 8:18 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Down Luka Dončić and Marcus Smart, the Lakers won another close game, beating the Toronto Raptors 123–120 on a last-second Rui Hachimura game winner. It was their second victory at the buzzer after Austin Reaves sank one in Game 5 against the Timberwolves.

With another win in a close game, the Lakers remain the only unbeaten clutch team at 7–0. Even the juggernaut Thunder have dropped one and sit second at 9–1.

After a disappointing loss against the Suns, the Lakers bounced back again and still have not lost two consecutive games this season, picking up a huge road win against a surging Raptors team that ranks top ten on offense and top five on defense.

Two players I was critical of as a defensive hustle combo in my 20-game check, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton, made the two winning plays on the final possessions — Ayton getting a crucial stop on Brandon Ingram’s drive, and Hachimura sinking the game winner from the corner.

And lastly, LeBron James, like so many times before in his career, chose to make the right play over chasing his own shot that would have kept his 1,297-game streak with at least 10 points alive.

digginbasketball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s notes:

A tightly connected, resilient group (VIDEO)

Austin Reaves keeps showing he is an All-NBA player (VIDEO)

LeBron compensating struggles with IQ and playmaking

Increased hustle for just enough stops

More Adou Thiero minutes please (VIDEO)

Bonus: a quick Celtics preview

1-A tightly connected, resilient group (VIDEO)

I am often critical of this team’s lack of cohesion on defense, but I think that’s mostly due to a lack of defensive talent and athleticism. What the Lakers keep showing us this season is that they are a resilient group that responds to disappointing losses with bounce-back performances and keeps winning even when missing several key players.

The play that led to the game winner was the perfect example: Reaves patiently waited to draw a late-clock double team, then gave up the ball to James in the middle, and James made the right play by swinging it to Hachimura in the corner. After going scoreless on one shot in the previous game, Hachimura calmly sank the game-winning three.

2-Austin Reaves keeps showing he is an All-NBA player (VIDEO)

With Dončić unavailable, Reaves showed once again that the Lakers have another creator who could easily be a primary option on almost any other team. Reaves had another astonishingly dominant game, scoring 44 points on 13-of-21 shooting, 5-of-11 from three, sinking 13 of his 15 free throws, and adding 10 assists. His 22-point third-quarter scoring explosion was reminiscent of the best Dončić or Kyrie Irving takeovers I’ve seen over the past couple of years.

The Lakers are 3–1 this season when Reaves is the main cog with Dončić sidelined, and Reaves is averaging 41 points in those games.

The Lakers might not only have the best scoring duo or the best backcourt in the NBA, they might have two legit All-NBA players at the moment, with Reaves joining Dončić in the top ten of most advanced metrics this season.

3-LeBron compensating struggles with IQ and playmaking

If Reaves’ ascendance to All-NBA level has been the most positive big-picture development for the Lakers this season, LeBron’s physical struggles have been the most concerning.

For a third game in a row, James looked to have no lift on his drives or his shots, struggling to finish at the rim. He shot 4-of-17 from the field last night, scoring only 8 points after scoring 10 and 13 in the previous two games. On top of that, many of his misses at the rim function like turnovers, as he often doesn’t get back in transition, giving opponents easy opportunities. The Raptors outscored the Lakers 21–11 on fast-break points. Postgame, James explained that he’s still trying to find his rhythm after missing training camp and the first 14 games of the season, but watching one of the greatest athletes of all time look like a mere mortal is rough at the moment.

However, even playing without the athletic edge for the first time in his career, James is still a superior decision-maker and passer. In addition to the final delivery to Hachimura, he made several other plays for his teammates and finished the night with 11 assists.

4-Increased hustle for just enough stops

This was far from an impressive defensive performance. The Lakers’ recipe for wins this season has been awesome offense and just enough hustle on the other end, and this was another exhibit of that. Led by Reaves’ shot-making and another super-efficient 8-of-11 night from Deandre Ayton, the Lakers scored at a rate of almost 134 points per 100 possessions, which should get them the win on most nights. In this one, it almost wasn’t enough, because despite the Lakers being the visibly better half-court offense (there was a 23-point-per-100-possessions gap in half-court efficiency), the Raptors made up for it with transition play and by outhustling the Lakers on the offensive glass.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

Just enough hustle and defense is the other Lakers theme this season, and last night was an upgrade in that department compared to the Suns game. The Lakers had one of their better offensive rebounding games as well and finished with seven steals and seven blocks. Jake LaRavia earned extended minutes and justified them with one of his better hustle games, providing much better resistance against Brandon Ingram than Hachimura did. Both big men, Ayton and Hayes, blocked and contested enough shots, and Gabe Vincent had some good hustle moments too.

Overall, there were still too many breakdowns, especially defending away actions for Ingram and defensing the Raptors stretch bigs popping up for threes. Once again, the starter stints in both halves were uninspiring. But addressing those, as I wrote in my 20-game check, will require rotation or roster changes.

5-More Adou Thiero minutes please (VIDEO)

The Lakers’ lack of athleticism and speed is glaring and well documented, so anytime the biggest internal hope of filling that gap, rookie Adou Thiero, gets minutes, he draws special attention.

Last night, Thiero logged a career-high 10 minutes and showed flashes of why he should be getting more, as his potential development into a rotation player this season would be a big boost. He made an and-one on an up-and-under move, driving decisively against a close-out, then showed off his length and speed by getting his hands on a ball no other player on the roster probably could, and crashed the glass for an offensive rebound.

Thiero has gotten a couple of minutes in six of the last eight games. The next step is for Redick to trust and test him in a longer stint in one of the upcoming games. The risk versus potential reward is more than worth it for the Lakers.

Bonus: a quick Celtics preview

Both teams will be on the second night of a back-to-back, and most of the key stars could be missing. Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić will be out, while the status of Marcus Smart, LeBron James (he skipped the previous back-to-back game), and Jaylen Brown (illness) is still unclear, which makes a preview hard to do.

What is clear is that whoever plays for the Celtics, Joe Mazzulla will have his team playing hard, especially against their biggest rival. Despite Tatum’s injury and losing three key rotation players in Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis, the 13–9 Celtics are surprisingly competitive.

Brown is having an incredible season, averaging 29/6/5 as the head of the snake for the fourth-best ranked offense, while the rest of the scoring comes from their three-guard combo of Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Anfernee Simons. Ex-Celtic Smart would come in very handy trying to keep up with a fast-moving, trigger-happy Celtics team that still ranks in the top five in three-point frequency.

The Celtics are a slow-paced team (they rank last in pace in the NBA), but that might change in this game. Their guard- and three-point-heavy rotation, with only one true big man in Neemias Queta, might try to punish the Lakers’ weaknesses — defending the three-point line with their bigs and getting back in the open floor.

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