By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Pulling away in the fourth quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors, 110-93, in crypto.com Arena.
With Deandre Ayton and LeBron James reaching 25 and 24 points, respectively, Luka Doncic added 25 points on 8/23 field goals, including five three-pointers. He added seven assists, two rebounds, one block, and one assist, plus four turnovers over 25:17.
The Slovenian superstar was initially listed as questionable to play on Sunday, after missing the top half of a back-to-back due to left groin soreness. Returning to action, he helped the Lakers improve to 25-16 in the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season.
“It’s OK. I’m fine,” he said in a postgame press conference, updating his injury status and confirming a minor lingering issue, “Obviously, I will try to play through it.”
German teammate Maxi Kleber did not play for the team coached by JJ Redick.
On the losing side, Georgian Sandro Mamukelashvili went for 20 points, including 12 quick points to push the visitors into an early nine-point advantage.
“We kept them to 23 points. Our defense was very good. We were able to get stops, to get rebounds, and to run out of that,” said Serbian head coach Darko Rajakovic, describing the solid first quarter.
“We were getting good looks. I also thought we had more opportunities to get even better looks, to make some simple reads and passes. We were hesitant with the ball. We did not allow the ball to go quickly. We had spurts when we did that, and our offense looked really good in those moments. And it kind of affected us on the defensive end as well. I thought that our defensive intensity and focus slipped there, and our offense affected our defense,” he pointed out earlier in his postgame reaction.
Making 8/12 from the field and overcoming a couple of injury scares in Los Angeles, 26-year-old Mamukelashvili ended up with six rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal in 24:24 off the bench.
“They’re unselfish. They get a lot of fouls called. You can’t really touch them. More like Doncic, he just, you know. And on the other hand, I feel like we were getting trouble, kind of getting a little bit smacked around, and were not getting a friendly whistle. So, just play through that. I think, overall, we were defending, trying to be there, and there was that little burst they had with, like, three threes,” the Georgian forward/center commented on referee calls in his game recap.
Austrian Jakob Poeltl (lower back strain) remained unavailable for 46-year-old Rajakovic.