Raptors hand lowly Lakers another loss

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[November 21, 2015]  LOS ANGELES -- Point guard Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors relied on the 3-ball to shoot past the woeful Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.

Lowry scored 25 points, hitting seven 3-pointers, and the Raptors earned a 102-91 victory over the Lakers at Staples Center.

Guard DeMar DeRozan had 18 points as the Raptors (8-6) ended a three-game skid. Forward DeMarre Carroll added 13 points and seven rebounds.

"My teammates, when you've got someone going, they do a good job of finding them," said Lowry, who converted seven of 11 3-pointers and also had three steals. "But we have to find ways to finish games out a little bit stronger like we did tonight."

The Raptors connected on 43.6 percent of their shots and tied a season high by making 15 of 33 3-pointers. The Lakers made 45.5 percent of their shots and eight of 25 from behind the 3-point stripe.

"We got to understand a lot of teams in this league are still tentative to be able to make a run and hit some big shots," said DeRozan, who finished with 5-of-12 shooting from the floor.

Lakers coach Byron Scott said his team failed to defend the long-distance shooting.

"They just got loose way too much on the perimeter," Scott said. "They are a good shooting team. I thought a couple of times Kyle just walked right into them. We didn't put enough pressure on him, and then other times we were in scramble situations and they just caught it and were wide open."

Forward Julius Randle scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Lakers (2-10), who have dropped six of their last seven. Rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell scored a career-high 17 points for Los Angeles, while guard Jordan Clarkson finished with 13 points.

"I felt like we played well, we just couldn't get a stop when we really needed it," said Russell, who made seven of 16 field goals, including three of seven on treys, and topped his previous high of 16 points earlier this month against the Brooklyn Nets. "At the end of the day, they capitalized every chance they got. They did a great job of making contact on screens, so it was forcing guys to help more. They made the right plays."

Guard Kobe Bryant managed 10 points, five assists and four rebounds in a season-high 37 minutes.

The Raptors were in control early in the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Carroll put them up 91-76 with 7:56 remaining in the contest.

But the Lakers rallied, cutting the Raptors' lead to 93-87 after a corner 3-pointer by reserve forward Metta World Peace with 3:49 left. After the Raptors pushed the margin back to 10 on two free throws and a basket by DeRozan, the Lakers made another run. Bryant's 3-point basket pulled them within 97-91 with 1:48 remaining.

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Consecutive buckets by DeRozan and Carroll, though, sealed the outcome for Toronto.

"The key, what got us there, was ball movement," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said of his club's fourth-quarter performance. "I think when we got in trouble tonight the ball got stuck, started sticking, and that's one thing we have to break."

There were 10 lead changes in the first half -- 15 overall -- before Los Angeles took at 50-49 lead at the break.

The Lakers took their biggest lead, 63-56, after a bucket by Randle with 6:52 left in the third quarter. However, the Raptors closed on a 20-5 run to end the quarter, capped by a put-back dunk by forward Patrick Patterson, for a 76-68 advantage heading into the fourth. The Raptors outscored the Lakers 27-18 in the third.

Toronto lost starting center Jonas Valanciunas with a broken left hand. Valanciunas suffered the injury in the first half.

NOTES: Lakers coach Byron Scott said his club remains confident despite the awful start. "We talked about it today, just staying together and trusting each other, and building that trust is probably the toughest thing for young (players)," Scott said. He picks his spots with rookie G D'Angelo Russell. "At times, I'll give him a hug and talk to him about some of the things and at times I'll try to let him figure it out," Scott said. ... Lakers G Lou Williams faced his former club for the first time, managing just six points on 2-of-6 shooting in almost 16 minutes. ... Both clubs play Sunday at the Staples Center in a doubleheader. The Raptors face the Clippers in the opener and the Lakers play the Portland Trail Blazers in the nightcap.

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