Lakers 120 - 110 Raptors
Final
  for this game

Lakers down Raptors to finish off road trip

Dec 19, 2010 - 11:21 PM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant finished with a team-high 20 points and Pau Gasol chipped in with 19 points and eight rebounds, as the Los Angeles Lakers won their fifth straight game by defeating the Toronto Raptors, 120-110, at Air Canada Centre.

Andrew Bynum added 16 points and seven boards off the bench for the Lakers, who were coming off a 93-81 victory at Philadelphia on Friday and finished off their seven-game road trip with a 6-1 mark. Shannon Brown donated 14 points in a reserve role in the win.

Linas Kleiza led all scorers with 26 points to go with 10 rebounds for Toronto, which has dropped seven of its last nine. DeMar DeRozan added 23 points, while Jose Calderon turned in a double-double with 20 points and 12 assists in defeat.

"I thought our guys played really hard and I think for the most part, they played really well, and I think we'd beat a lot of teams today, but not these guys," Toronto head coach Jay Triano said.

Amir Johnson netted 12 points in the opening quarter to help the Raptors grab a 34-28 lead after 12 minutes.

Leandro Barbosa's floater kept Toronto ahead by six, 37-31, nearly 2 1/2 minutes into the second, before the Lakers made their move. Brown started a 9-0 run with a fadeaway jumper, and after Steve Blake finished it off with a three-pointer, Los Angeles was up 40-37.

The Lakers maintained the lead throughout the half and Bynum finished out the scoring with three free throws to give LA a 57-49 edge heading into the locker room.

Toronto trailed by as many as 16 in the third quarter, but drew within four at 76-72 after DeRozan drained a pair from the stripe with 2:50 remaining.

However, LA built its lead up to 86-76 with 22.8 seconds left in the third. Barbosa beat the buzzer with a three to make it a seven-point game heading into the fourth.

A 9-1 Lakers' run to start the final period stretched the advantage to 15, 95-80, and Toronto only got as close as six the rest of the way.

Game Notes

The Lakers have won seven of the last eight meetings in the series, including a 108-103 win in Los Angeles on November 5...Raptors center Andrea Bargnani missed the game with a right ankle injury...The Lakers improved to 11-5 on the road this season, while Toronto fell to 7-8 at home.






Related News