Author: mook557hotmailcom

GAME #70 – TORONTO RAPTORS (39-30) vs. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (29-40)
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022 – 7:30 P.M. (ET) – SCOTIABANK ARENA
TV: SPORTSNET – RADIO: TSN 1050 TORONTO
2021-22 RECORDS
W-L EAST WEST
OVERALL 39-30 23-19 16-11
HOME 17-15 11-9 6-6
AWAY 22-15 12-10 10-5
OVERTIME 2-1 2-1 0-0

• The Toronto Raptors (39-30) return home from a six-game road trip (Mar. 6-16) Friday night when they host the Los Angeles Lakers (29-40) at Scotiabank Arena. The Raptors have won five in a row and went 5-1 on their recent road trip. Pascal Siakam scored 31 points as Toronto held off the LA Clippers to cap its trip with a 103-100 victory on Wednesday. The Raptors are now tied with Cleveland for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Toronto will play nine of its final 13 games at home.
• The Raptors have won five consecutive games (Mar. 9-14) for the first time since a season-long eight-game winning streak (Jan. 29 – Feb. 10). Over the last five games, Toronto is averaging 116.0 points and shooting .452 (208-460) from the field, while holding opponents to 106.8 points. Pascal Siakam and Gary
Trent Jr. are averaging 27.2 and 20.4 points, respectively, during the win streak. The Raptors have led after the first quarter in each of the last five games.
• Pascal Siakam recorded his team-leading 23rd double-double of the season with 31 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday’s win over the Clippers. Siakam has now scored 20+ points in a career-best eight straight games (Mar. 3-16), averaging 27.8 points and shooting .522 (82-157) from the field and .483 (14-
29) from three-point range during this stretch. Siakam is the first Raptor since Kawhi Leonard to score 20-or-more in eight straight games. Leonard scored 20+ points in 12 straight games Feb. 11 – Mar. 24, 2019.
• Pascal Siakam is averaging 22.0 points, and career bests of 8.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists, in 56 games this season. Siakam is one of just seven players in the NBA averaging 20.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists, along with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Dejounte Murray
and Julius Randle. No Raptor has averaged 20-8-5 over the course of an entire season.
• Precious Achiuwa recorded 11 points and six rebounds off the bench Wednesday against the Clippers. Achiuwa has now scored in double figures in a career-high five straight games (Mar. 9-16). He is averaging
12.0 points and shooting .469 (23-49) from the field, including .474 (9-19) from three, during this span.
Achiuwa is shooting .361 (35-97) from beyond the arc after attempting just one three-pointer as a rookie.
• The Raptors outrebounded the Clippers 43-41 on Wednesday night, including 13-10 on the offensive glass. Toronto (13.4) currently ranks second in the NBA in offensive boards and has +51 (135-85) advantage on the offensive boards through nine games in March. The Raptors grabbed a season-best 64
rebounds in Monday’s 114-103 win over the Lakers in Los Angeles.
• Scottie Barnes has scored 20+ points 16 times this season – the most by a Raptors rookie since Vince Carter did it 23 times during the 1998-99 season. Barnes leads all rookies this year having tallied 20+
points and 5+ rebounds in 16 games. He scored 15 of his 21 points in the first quarter Monday vs. the Lakers. Since the All-Star break, Barnes is averaging 18.8 points and 8.1 rebounds in 12 contests.
PROBABLE STARTERS
F – SCOTTIE BARNES #4

MIN: 35.6 REB: 7.6 AST: 3.3 STL: 1.2 TO: 1.9 BLK: 0.8 PTS: 15.3
• Finished with 15 points and four rebounds in 40 minutes of action Mar. 16 against the LA Clippers.
• Leads all rookies in minutes (35.6), ranks third in rebounds (7.6) and fourth in both points (15.3) and assists (3.3).
• Averaging 18.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 36.5 minutes in 12 games since the All-Star break.
F – PASCAL SIAKAM #43

MIN: 37.6 REB: 8.4 AST: 5.1 STL: 1.3 TO: 2.7 BLK: 0.6 PTS: 22.0
• Recorded 31 points, 12 rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes Mar. 16 against the LA Clippers.
• Leads the Raptors with a career-best 23 double-doubles this season.
• Averaging 26.7 points and shooting .506 (89-176) from the field through nine games in March.
C – KHEM BIRCH #24

MIN: 18.4 REB: 4.5 AST: 1.0 STL: 0.6 TO: 0.5 BLK: 0.5 PTS: 4.7
• Contributed nine points, seven rebounds and one assist in 21 minutes Mar. 16 against the LA Clippers.
• Has scored in double figures four times this season (Last: 11 – Mar. 1 vs. Brooklyn).
• Averaging 5.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 18.8 minutes in 18 games as a starter this season.
G – GARY TRENT JR. #33

MIN: 34.7 REB: 2.8 AST: 2.0 STL: 1.8 TO: 1.0 BLK: 0.3 PTS: 18.1
• Tallied seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 33 minutes Mar. 16 against the LA Clippers.
• Ranks third in the NBA in both steals per game (1.82) and total deflections (211).
• Averaging 20.84points and shooting .400 (108-270) from beyond the arc in 32 road games this season.
G – FRED VANVLEET #23

MIN: 38.1 REB: 4.6 AST: 6.7 STL: 1.6 TO: 2.7 BLK: 0.5 PTS: 21.1
• Scored 21 points Mar. 16 against the LA Clippers; added two rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes.
• Leads the league in minutes (38.1), ranks second in deflections (216) and third in three-pointers (218).
• Needs 20 three-pointers to tie Kyle Lowry’s single-season franchise record of 238 made threes (2017-18).
INJURY REPORT
OG Anunoby (Right Hand; Ring Finger – Fracture) – Doubtful
Malachi Flynn (Left Hamstring; Strain) – Out
David Johnson (G League – Two-Way) – Out
UPDATED: Mar. 18, 2022
NEXT GAME DETAILS
Opponent: Philadelphia 76ers
Date: Sunday, March 20
Tip-Off: 8:30 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Wells Fargo Center
Television: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 590 The FAN
SERIES RECAP VS. PHILADELPHIA
OVERALL HOME ROAD
2021-22 1-1 0-1 1-0
ALL-TIME 59-42 32-18 27-24
STREAKS Lost 1 Lost 2 Won 1
LAST WIN: Nov. 11, 2021 (115-109)
LAST ROAD WIN: Nov. 11, 2021 (115-109)
LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY: +34 (Oct. 21, 2017)
LARGEST MARGIN OF DEFEAT: -35 (Jan. 7, 2012)
LAST TIME VS. PHILADELPHIA
GAME 31 – DECEMBER 28, 2021
PHILADELPHIA 114, TORONTO 109
TORONTO — Tobias Harris had 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists
for his first career triple-double, Joel Embiid finished with 36 points and 11
rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers hung on to beat the Toronto Raptors 114-109 … Chris Boucher scored a season-high 28 points and
matched his career high with 19 rebounds, but the depleted Raptors lost
their second straight … Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr. and Malachi Flynn
returned for Toronto after being among the 10 players to miss Sunday’s
144-99 loss at Cleveland because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols … Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Isaac Bonga, and
Justin Champagnie remain in the protocols … Siakam scored 28 points
while Trent had 19 … After Toronto took a 78-76 lead on Svi Mykhailiuk’s
3-pointer with 2:02 left in the third, the 76ers responded with a 19-5 run,
including a 10-2 spurt to begin the fourth that was fueled by eight straight
points from Georges Niang … The Raptors battled back, and Trent hit a 3-
pointer with 1:41 remaining to put Toronto up 107-106 … But Harris was
fouled after grabbing the rebound on Trent’s miss with 21 seconds left,
and made two more from the line to put the Sixers up 112-109 … Toronto
missed a chance to tie with 21 seconds left, and made two more from the line to put the Sixers up 112-109 … Toronto missed a chance to take a tying shot when Trent turned the ball over with six seconds left … … Philadelphia led 55-48 at halftime.
1 2 3 4 TOT
PHILADELPHIA 27 28 30 29 114
TORONTO 24 24 33 28 109

2021-22 SCHEDULE
Day Date Opponent Time (ET)/Result
Wed. Oct. 20 Washington L 98-83
Fri. Oct. 22 at Boston W 115-83
Sat. Oct. 23 Dallas L 103-95
Mon. Oct. 25 Chicago L 111-108
Wed. Oct. 27 Indiana W 118-100
Fri. Oct. 29 Orlando W 110-109
Sat. Oct. 30 at Indiana W 97-94
Mon. Nov. 1 at New York W 113-104
Wed. Nov. 3 at Washington W 109-100
Fri. Nov. 5 Cleveland L 102-101
Sun. Nov. 7 Brooklyn L 116-103
Wed. Nov. 10 at Boston L 104-88
Thu. Nov. 11 at Philadelphia W 115-109
Sat. Nov. 13 Detroit L 127-121
Mon. Nov. 15 at Portland L 118-113
Thu. Nov. 18 at Utah L 119-103
Fri. Nov. 19 at Sacramento W 108-89
Sun. Nov. 21 at Golden State L 119-104
Wed. Nov. 24 at Memphis W 126-113
Fri. Nov. 26 at Indiana L 114-97
Sun. Nov. 28 Boston L 109-97
Tue. Nov. 30 Memphis L 98-91
Thu. Dec. 2 Milwaukee W 97-93
Sun. Dec. 5 Washington W 102-90
Wed. Dec. 8 Oklahoma City L 110-109
Fri. Dec. 10 New York W 90-87
Mon. Dec. 13 Sacramento W 124-101
Tue. Dec. 14 at Brooklyn L 131-129 (OT)
Thu. Dec. 16 Chicago POSTPONED
Sat. Dec. 18 Golden State W 119-100
Mon. Dec. 20 Orlando POSTPONED
Wed. Dec. 22 at Chicago POSTPONED
Sun. Dec. 26 at Cleveland L 144-99
Tue. Dec. 28 Philadelphia L 114-109
Fri. Dec. 31 LA Clippers W 116-108
Sun. Jan. 2 New York W 120-105
Tue. Jan. 4 San Antonio W 129-104
Wed. Jan. 5 at Milwaukee W 117-111
Fri. Jan. 7 Utah W 122-108
Sun. Jan. 9 New Orleans W 105-101
Tue. Jan. 11 Phoenix L 99-95
Fri. Jan. 14 at Detroit L 103-87
Sat. Jan. 15 at Milwaukee W 103-96
Mon. Jan. 17 at Miami L 104-99
Wed. Jan. 19 at Dallas L 102-98
Fri. Jan. 21 at Washington W 109-105
Sun. Jan. 23 Portland L 114-105
Tue. Jan. 25 Charlotte W 125-113
Wed. Jan. 26 at Chicago L 111-105
Sat. Jan. 29 at Miami W 124-120 (3OT)
Mon. Jan. 31 at Atlanta W 106-100
Tue. Feb. 1 Miami W 110-106
Thu. Feb. 3 Chicago W 127-120 (OT)
Fri. Feb. 4 Atlanta W 125-114
Mon. Feb. 7 at Charlotte W 116-101
Wed. Feb. 9 at Oklahoma City W 117-98
Thu. Feb. 10 at Houston W 139-120
Sat. Feb. 12 Denver L 110-109
Mon. Feb. 14 at New Orleans L 120-90
Wed. Feb. 16 at Minnesota W 103-91
Fri. Feb. 25 at Charlotte L 125-93
Sat. Feb. 26 at Atlanta L 127-100
Mon. Feb. 28 at Brooklyn W 133-97
Tue. Mar. 1 Brooklyn W 109-108
Thu. Mar. 3 Detroit L 108-106
Fri Mar. 4 Orlando L 103-97
Sun. Mar. 6 at Cleveland L 104-96
Wed. Mar. 9 at San Antonio W 119-104
Fri. Mar. 11 at Phoenix W 117-112
Sat. Mar. 12 at Denver W 127-115
Mon. Mar. 14 at LA Lakers W 114-103
Wed. Mar. 16 at LA Clippers W 103-100
Fri. Mar. 18 LA Lakers 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 20 at Philadelphia 8:30 p.m.
Mon. Mar. 21 at Chicago 8:00 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 24 Cleveland 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 26 Indiana 7:30 p.m.
Mon. Mar. 28 Boston 7:30 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 30 Minnesota 7:30 p.m.
Fri. Apr. 1 at Orlando 7:00 p.m.
Sun. Apr. 3 Miami 7:00 p.m.#
Tue. Apr. 5 Atlanta 7:30 p.m.
Thu. Apr. 7 Philadelphia 7:30 p.m.
Fri. Apr. 8 Houston 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Apr. 10 at New York TBD
KEY: * ESPN # NBATV ^ TNT
NBA All-Star Weekend, February 18-20, 2022
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse – Cleveland, Ohio

LAKERS

LAST TIME OUT:
• LeBron James had 19 points, fi ve rebounds, four assists, one steal and two blocks in 37 minutes. The performace was his fi rst game since 12/17 without 20+ points, ending his streak at 32 games, the third longest streak of his career.
• Wenyen Gabriel scored a season-high 10 points with two rebounds and one steal in 15 minutes off the bench.
PLENTY OF TWENTY: LeBron James is approaching yet another milestone in his 19th season
as he looks to become the NBA’s all-time leader in games with 20+ points. James is just
nine games away from passing Karl Malone for the most such games in NBA history. He has
climbed the charts thanks to a streak of 32 consecutive 20-point games that started on 12/19
and ended on 3/16. He passed Abdul-Jabbar with a 23-point outing on 3/9 at Houston.
TRIPLE-QUINTUPLE: LeBron James became the only player in NBA history to tally 10,000+points, 10,000+ rebounds and 10,000+ assists as he recorded his 10,000th career assist against the Suns. James finished the night with 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one
block in 30 minutes. The performance marked his 28th game of the season with 30+ points.
DOUBLE 50 BURGER: LeBron James fi nished with 50 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one block in 36 minutes. The performance marked his second
50-point game of the season and the 14th such game of his career, tying Rick Barry for sixth most in NBA history. In his last two home games, James has
scored 106 points, the fi rst Lakers player to score 100+ across two consecutive home games in a single season since Kobe Bryant did so in April of 2007.
James is the sixth player in NBA history to score 50+ points in consecutive home games and the only player to do so after turning 30.
ULTIMATE WARRIOR: LeBron James fi nished with a season-high 56 points (19-31 FG, 6-11 3FG, 12-13 FT) to go with 10 rebounds, three assists and one
block in 38 minutes on 3/5 vs. Golden State, good for the sixth 50-point double-double of his career. James became the fi rst Lakers player to tally 55+ points
and 10+ rebounds since Shaquille O’Neal on March 6, 2000. He is just the fourth player in NBA history to record a 50-point game at age 37 or older, joining
Jamal Crawford, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. James scored 30 points in the second half, his highest scoring half since scoring 35 points in the second
half on April 6, 2018 at Philadelphia. He has now scored at least 30 points in 19 diff erent halves throughout his career
TWENTY FIVE A NIGHT: LeBron James put together a scoring streak unlike anything he has
done since the 2007-08 season. James scored at least 25 points in 23 consecutive games,
good for the longest streak of his career. The last time he had such a streak was from
1/25/08-3/8/08 when he scored 25+ points in 21 consecutive games. His streak is tied for
the longest such streak in the NBA this season
HALF A NIGHT, RUSS: Russell Westbrook had one of his strongest nights since joining the
Lakers as he finished with 35 points (12-23 FG), four rebounds and fi ve assists on 1/28
against the Hornets. Westbrook scored 30 of his points in the second half, becoming the fi rst
Lakers player to have a 30-point half since Kobe Bryant scored 38 points in the fi nal half of
his career on 4/13/16 vs. Utah. The performance marked the seventh time that Westbrook
had scored 30+ in a single half and the fi rst time since scoring 30 points in the second half on 3/7/17 vs. Portland. Westbrook is just the seventh player this
season to tally a 30-point half.
I’M THE CAPTAIN AGAIN: For the sixth consecutive season and ninth time overall, LeBron James led all players in All-Star
voting as he was named an All-Star for the 18th time in his career. James has been named a captain in every year since
the NBA switched to the current format and improved to 5-0 as the team captain of the annual event. His 18th straight
selection ties him with Kobe Bryant for most all-time and his 18th overall selection ties him with Bryant for second-most
selections in NBA history. A three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP and the contest’s all-time leading scorer (413 points),
James made his NBA-record 18th All-Star start on February 20, 2022, fi nishing with 24 points, six rebounds, eight assists,
three steals and one block in 36 minutes.
10 ACROSS THE BOARDS: Dwight Howard added to his Hall of Fame resume as he passed Nate Thurmond for 10th place on the NBA’s all-time rebounds list
on 1/21 against the Orlando Magic. With his fi rst rebound of the night, Howard broke a tie with Thurmond to take sole possession of 10th place, recording
his 14, 465th career rebound.
PASSING THE ALL-TIME PASSERS: LeBron James continued his climb up the NBA’s all-time lists as he moved passed Oscar Robertson on the all-time
assists list on 1/9 vs. Memphis. With his seventh assist of the night, James passed Robertson for seventh all-time, passing out his 9,888th career assist.
James will now look to become just one of seven players all-time to tally 10,000 career assists.
DOUBLE-TRIPLE-DOUBLE: In the Lakers’ 132-123 win over the Houston Rockets, both LeBron James and Russell Westbrook recorded triple-doubles and
James added to his list of career milestones.
• LeBron James became the third player in NBA history to score 36,000 points as he fi nished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, one steal and two
blocks in 39 minutes. James became the fi rst Lakers player since Kobe Bryant in 2013 to score 30+ points in fi ve consecutive games.
• Russell Westbrook tallied his seventh triple-double of the season with 24 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. James and Westbrook became just the third pair of Lakers teammates to record a triple-double in the same game, and the fi rst since James and Lonzo Ball on 12/15/18.
CHRISTMAS TREE TOPPER: LeBron James appeared in his 16th career Christmas Day game, tying Kobe Bryant for most such games all-time, and put on
a show in front of the Crypto.com Arena crown. James fi nished the night with 39 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals and one block in 40
minutes. With his third free throw of the night, James surpassed Bryant to become the all-time leading scorer on Christmas Day, totaling 422 career points
on the holiday. With his second fi eld goal of the night, James passed Bryant for most career fi eld goals on Christmas Day, now totaling 150 fi eld goals on
December 25th.
L