The Los Angeles Lakers (33-34) defeated the Toronto Raptors (32-36) Friday night at Crypto.com Arena for a third consecutive win despite Anthony Davis going just 4-for-7 from the field.
Davis,30 finished the contest with just eight points in 33 minutes and added nine rebounds. He also recorded four blocks and scored a jumper late in the fourth quarter to ice the game.
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D'Angelo Russell was the hero for the Purple & Gold, scoring a team-high 28 points and nine assists in his return from injury after missing the past six games.
Russell, 27, hit five of eight attempts from deep and shot an overall 10-for-17 from the floor, adding nine assists, five rebounds and a steal.
LeBron James is still out indefinitely due to injury, so it's a positive sign for the Lakers that Russell can perform when Davis struggles.
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Lakers made up for a 15-point third quarter with a huge scoring run in the final frame to secure the 112-122 victory.
Dennis Schroder, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura contributed to the win with a respective 23, 18 and 16 points off the bench. Jarred Vanderbilt, meanwhile, was the only other starter besides Russell with double-digits in scoring (16).
Toronto's Scottie Barnes (32) and OG Anunoby (31) combined for 63 points, while Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam put up 17 and 12 points, respectively. Fred VanVleet (8) was the only Raptors starter to not finish the night in double-digit scoring.
The win over Toronto -- combined with the Brooklyn Nets defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Philadelphia 76ers overcoming the Portland Trail Blazers (both one-point games) -- leaves Los Angeles with the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference ahead of their road trip that starts Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
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