Raptors fall to Lakers on Hachimura buzzer-beater; LeBron point streak comes to an end

Austin Reaves scored 44 points, and Rui Hachimura hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 123-120 on Thursday.

Reaves had 11 assists and five rebounds for the Lakers (16-5), who were without superstar point guard Luka Doncic, who didn’t travel to Toronto with the Lakers for personal reasons.

LeBron James’ NBA-record streak of 1,297 consecutive double-digit scoring games in the regular season came to an end Thursday night. James was held to just eight points in 35 minutes of action, going 4 for 17 from the field and missing all five three-point attempts. The last time he scored fewer than 10 points in a game was January 5, 2007.

Scottie Barnes had a double-double for the Raptors (15-8) with 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Brandon Ingram had 20 points despite going 0-for-6 from three-point range for Toronto, who had seven players reach double digits in scoring.

Ja’Kobe Walter had a season-high 17 points, starting for RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., who is out with a sprained right knee.

Jakob Poeltl, who is usually the Raptors’ starting centre, sat out the game to rest his lower back. He has missed one half of every back-to-back so far this season to avoid injuring himself.

Takeaways

Lakers: Reaves stepped up with Doncic unavailable, especially in the third quarter. He had 22 points in that period alone, outscoring all Raptors players for the entire game — except Barnes — in that 12-minute span.

Raptors: Toronto looked sloppy at times, with nine turnovers in the first half alone. The Raptors tightened up their play in the third quarter, however, erasing L.A.’s 13-point lead and winning the period 40-33 despite Reaves’s outburst.

Key moment

Hachimura drilled a 24-foot three-pointer as time expired to win the game. The shot had to be reviewed to make sure he got it off before the buzzer sounded.

Up next

Toronto: Hosts the Charlotte Hornets (6-16) on Friday.