LeBron James terrorizes Raptors as road woes continue in L.A.

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Winless on the road with one more visitor game on tap Tuesday night in Milwaukee, the Raptors’ lot of playing hard and putting forward an entertaining product is growing tiresome.

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They remain the NBA’s lone team not to post a win on the road. They are also the first NBA team to lose their ninth game following Sunday night’s 123-103 defeat at the hands of the host Los Angeles Lakers.

Defence is an issue that has yet to be addressed and may never get addressed given the roster composition.

In simple terms, the Raptors can’t defend the dribble.

Turnovers have plagued this team almost from the moment the season began in a lopsided loss to Cleveland.

Those looking for encouraging signs can point to the first half and how well the Raptors played and competed. A realist will point to the second half where the Raptors were, for the most part, non-competitive.

Playing the back end of a back-to-back does have its own set of issues, but the Raptors played the Clippers in L.A. on Saturday night and didn’t have to deal with any travel plans.

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Jakob Poeltl did not have a memorable stay in Los Angeles as his game took a bit of a hit.

Speaking of hits, he hit Anthony Davis, accidentally that is, in the eye, forcing the Lakers’ big man and the league’s leading scorer to exit the game. When Davis was ruled out, he had scored 22 points in 26 minutes.

A Poeltl elbow to LeBron James, also accidental, sent the King to the floor where James stayed for a few anxious moments.

For a basketball savant such as James, he has always had this nasty knack for drama.

What a force James would prove on a night he made some of the best passes one will ever see. When he’s doing downhill, the soon-to-be 40-year-old is unstoppable.

For the record, Poeltl did record a double-double, but it wasn’t impactful.

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James recorded a triple-double, but his stat line was very much impactful in posting his 115th-career triple-double. The King once again ruled with the Raptors cast as his unwitting servants. To boot, his triple-double was James’ second in as many games.

The Raptors, who dropped their record to 2-9, are 0-4 on their current road swing.

RELIVING THE RANT

For the first time since his epic post-game tirade, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic found himself back at Crypto.com Arena.

Instead of engaging in a stream of consciousness fuelled by raw anger, Rajakovic smiled.

“I remember this room from last year,” began the head coach during his pre-game media availability in the hours leading up to tipoff as the Raptors completed their back-to-back set in Los Angeles.

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To the surprise of no one, the assembled gathering chuckled as the head coach cracked a smile.

In a weird way that seemed to befit his rookie season given the unprecedented roster changes and upheaval Rajakovic had to deal with, his cathartic outburst represented the defining moment most will remember from a truly regrettable year.

Rewind to Jan. 10 and the Raptors would lose 132-131 to the host Lakers, who shot 23 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Davis would score 20 of his 41 points from the charity stripe, including going 11-for-11 in the fourth period.

The Raptors, in comparison, attempted a combined 13 free throws on the night.

Once the disparity was broached post-game, Rajakovic went on a table-pounding tirade against the officials that went viral.

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“This is completely B.S. This is a shame,” said a livid Rajakovic.

For his public berating of the game officials, the normally mild-mannered and affable Rajakovic was hit in the pocket book with a league-imposed US$25,000 fine.

Of the active players available Sunday, only Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett and Chris Boucher played on that fateful Jan. 10 evening.

Davis was fouled 22 seconds into the game, a non-shooting foul committed by Ochai Agbaji that was completely justified.

DAWN OF LEBRON

James made his 1,500th-career start Sunday and his last against the Raptors this season.

When the Lakers visited Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 1, James scored 27 points, recorded 10 assists and did not commit a single turnover in L.A.’s 131-125 win.

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In the intervening days, the Lakers have moved Cam Reddish into the starting lineup, a move rookie head coach JJ Redick initiated that involved D’Angelo Russell coming off the bench.

Russell entered the game with 6:38 left in the opening quarter. He is a noted gunslinger who believes defence is an afterthought.

As for James, he was left wide open on the left pocket just in front of the Raptors’ bench. He heaved an air ball that looked more like Bronny James than LeBron James.

Bronny did enter the game late.

On another possession, Gradey Dick guarded James, who took Dick off the dribble only to see his reverse layup come up short.

With Barrett on James, the King made a sweet bounce pass to a diving Rui Hachimura, who completed the sequence with a dunk.

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James also made an ill-advised inbounds pass that nearly resulted in a turnover.

He also made a sublime two-handed cross-court pass on an inbound play only the King could execute.

The Raptors began the night by playing with energy and effort in forging an early lead.

Quickley, who made his return Saturday night from his opening-night pelvic injury, was substituted for Davion Mitchell five minutes into the game.

Four reserves would be used by Rajakovic in the opening period.

Poeltl committed two fouls in eight minutes, paving the way for Bruno Fernando to take full advantage of his extended run on the floor.

The Raptors turned the ball over five times, but they more than compensated for their moments of carelessness by draining 65% of their shots. They also attempted one more free throw than the Lakers in leading 34-26 after the first quarter.

Too many Toronto turnovers kept the Lakers close and they would build some momentum following Russell’s buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the first half.

The Raptors led 55-53 at intermission, but their 10 turnovers stood out like a sore thumb, taking the shine off Toronto’s plus-15 rebounding edge.

Back on Nov. 1, the Lakers poured in 43 points in the game’s opening 12 minutes.

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