Raptors vs. Lakers: What Toronto may have discovered in experimental loss in L.A. - Toronto Star
A shorthanded Raptors squad gave coach Darko Rajaković plenty of lineup combinations — and film — to work with.
Raptors guard Jamal Shead is fouled by Lakers forward Jake LaRavia during the second quarter of Sunday night’s game in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES—It has been a season of fits and starts so far for the Raptors with key players in and out of the lineup, some playing great one night and much less so others.
It has all added up to a time for experimentation for a coaching staff figuring out the jigsaw puzzle and to make any declaration about where things are and where they are going at this point makes no sense.
It’s why Darko Rajaković can, and must, use games like Sunday’s 131-125 loss to the Lakers here as a chance to try some things, not only to salvage one game but to put in place things he might want to go back to later in the season.
It’s why he can experiment briefly with an all-small backcourt of Jamal Shead, Immanuel Quickley and Alijah Martin.
It’s why he can play great stretches of the game without a centre.
It’s why he can use three or four different defenders in a failed attempt to harness the excellence of Luka Dončić.
None of it worked here Sunday — the Lakers (5-2) won start to end behind 45 points and 15 rebounds from Dončić — but at least it all provided Rajaković with some video to pore over and numbers to crunch to see if any of it is salvageable for other points in the season.
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, right, is fouled by Lakers guard Luka Doncic during the third quarter of Sunday night’s game in Los Angeles.
“It’s early in the season and I think … that’s why you have a team,” RJ Barrett said after the Raptors suffered their second straight loss. “Different lineups, different times, different games call for different situations so we have a whole team and we know the way that we need to play, the things that we need to do.
“So whoever’s out there on the floor, we’ve got to make it work.”
Rajaković liked the three-guard look in spurts and it might be resurrected under the right circumstances in the future.
“We decided to go and switch more with one through five (each position on the court) and we’re short on bodies,” the coach said. “We really tried to scramble, to find somebody who’s going to give us a juice.
“And I thought that Alijah did a really good job in the first half. His own ball defence and aggressiveness were really, really good and we were just hoping to get to that from all of our guys.”
The lack of a veteran centre came minutes before tip off when Jakob Poeltl was scratched because of left shoulder bursitis, according to the team. He couldn’t loosen up the joint during his pre-game workout session and will be evaluated before Monday night’s game here against the Clippers.
But the Raptors (3-3) are going to have to get used to absences and odd lineups over the course of the season so getting some experience now can’t hurt. It’s unclear when Kawhi Leonard will be back from his left knee swelling (an update is due Tuesday), Poeltl’s been out one game already and it’s inevitable others will miss more games.
And using different groups may create some cohesion that avoids a terrible start like Sunday — the Raptors committed nine turnovers in the first quarter alone and trailed 36-23 after 12 minutes — that buried them right off the bat.
“I thought that we were just not making simple decisions,” Rajaković said. “As we are playing with speed and force, we’ve got to be under control as well.
“I thought that it was just us not really making the decisions … In the second half, we had only three turnovers; that’s something we can really build on and get better at.”
For all the experimentation that didn’t work — that’s different lineups searching for something to work, different lineups created by availability — the Raptors still added some juice to what seemed to be a forgotten result.
Mamukelashvili is giving the Lakers what they expected from him the day he signed.
