TORONTO — Rui Hachimura did Toronto Raptors fans a solid, or so you would think.
With the Los Angeles Lakers casually holding off the Raptors on Friday, a familiar villain had the chance to embarrass the home side yet again. LeBron James went 12-2 in playoff games against the Raptors between 2016 and 2018, winning the last 10 on the trot. The stakes weren’t as high Friday night, a 131-125 Lakers win, as the Raptors are injury-ravaged in addition to being openly rebuilding. Once again, one of James’ teams made Toronto boo, just not as you’d expect.
With James leaking out for an uncontested dunk, Hachimura pushed a pass ahead to him. At age 19 or 39, James wouldn’t have been able to leap up and bring it down. It sailed over James’ hands, and the fans jeered. They wanted a show.
If the locals wanted another moment of casual obliteration, they would have to settle for his behind-the-back bounce pass to Anthony Davis. James threw it with his left hand. It was one of his 10 assists, to go along with 27 points and six rebounds.
Anthony Davis & LeBron James continue their hot starts to the 2024-25 season as the @Lakers get win No. 4! 🌟
AD: 38 PTS, 11 REB, 3 STL, 2 BLK
LBJ: 27 PTS, 10 AST, 6 REB, 0 TO pic.twitter.com/ulBDzXb5Ti— NBA (@NBA) November 2, 2024
James doesn’t lack for those moments against the Raptors. This might have been the last one to happen in Toronto, though. James has a player option for next season, but let’s be honest: His contractual status is irrelevant at this point. He turns 40 in December. If he wants a farewell season and is still performing like one of the best 20 or so players in the world, he will keep playing. If he wants to help guide son Bronny James’ career from on the roster, he will keep playing.
If not, opportunities for those moments are gone. To be fair, the worst ones for the Raptors happened in Ohio.
You know the ones, from the half-decade or so that James toyed with the otherwise competitive Raptors like a fussy kid pushes around peas on his plate. He spun the ball in Serge Ibaka’s face in Cleveland. He mockingly took a sip of beer during a playoff game in Cleveland. He hit an absurd, banked-in runner over OG Anunoby after the Raptors had furiously come back to tie Game 3 in 2018 in Cleveland.
He had some signature moments, both from that era and before it, in Toronto, too. He has the record for points scored in Scotiabank Arena (56, on March 20, 2005). He turned 20 three months earlier. That game nearly bisects his life evenly. A game before the runner over Anunoby, he took increasingly audacious turnaround jumpers over helpless Raptors defenders to give the Cavaliers their eighth straight win over the Raptors in the playoffs.
Maybe most devastating of all: After the Cavaliers wrapped up the 2016 Eastern Conference finals in six games, at that point the Raptors’ high-water mark in franchise history, James delivered the following bar on how he felt about the series when it was tied 2-2.
“I’ve been a part of some really adverse situations,” James said, “and I just didn’t believe that this was one of them.”
Nastier than any posterizing dunk, that quote. It was way more effective than posting that old chestnut, “Live from LeBronto,” over a photo of him entering the arena wearing a mask from the movie Scream on Instagram.
None of those signature James moments burn as much as they might have in an alternate timeline when the Raptors didn’t win a championship the year after James left Cleveland for Los Angeles. He still has a hold over the franchise, though.
Friday night could have been the end of it. It is nearly impossible to separate the normal Lakers buzz from normal LeBron buzz from “Is this it?” buzz, but the fans in Toronto were delighted to see him, cheering each of his dunks in the pregame layup line. It continued with his game-opening corner 3. The noise rose and then died in a deflated “ohhhhh” after an alley-oop attempt, which James tried to finish with one hand, was derailed by a foul.
There is not much drama in James attacking, say, DJ Carton — he is like two Cartons wide — but there is something special in James still obliterating Raptors teams so many years later, causing a frenzied reaction.
For those less enthused about the repeated embarrassments? Well, they will be done soon enough.
Notes
• Raptors rookie Ja’Kobe Walter played in his first NBA game after missing all of preseason and the first five of the regular season with an AC joint sprain. After a rough start on both ends, Walter got his first basket on a nice cut after handing the ball off to Jonathan Mogbo, and he later blocked Hachimura from behind in transition. Walter then got on the floor to get a loose ball, getting an assist for an Ochai Agbaji layup. Walter had a nice hustle night in his first game, finishing with five points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.
• The Lakers went on a 7-0 run to force an early Raptors timeout. Raptors coach Darko Rajaković had some words for Gradey Dick, who allowed Austin Reaves to waltz by him, before he met with his coaches. Dick picked it up enough to scrap to a respectable minus-4 on the night, scoring a career-best 31 points in the process.
When Rajaković talked to the media before the game, he said this season cannot be about frustration, no matter how the injury deities treat the Raptors. That doesn’t preclude him from getting frustrated with his young players at times. He called another timeout after the Raptors allowed Hachimura to hit two open corner 3s in a row. Chris Boucher tried to get into the coaches’ huddle, but his teammates pulled him back.
• That was a cool pass by Jakob Poeltl, who is playing some laudable basketball in suboptimal circumstances.
• RJ Barrett set a career high with 12 assists. His ninth, which matched his previous mark, was especially savvy. He added 33 points. He’s playing good basketball.
COUNT THE BUCKET 😤 pic.twitter.com/rVXygvg18l
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) November 2, 2024
• Immanuel Quickley has been doubtful for all five games since he suffered a pelvic bruise on opening night and has not played in any of the games. Rajaković also said he doesn’t expect him to play against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
It is unusual for someone to be listed as doubtful for so long without explanation, but the Raptors coach explained his status.
“From my understanding, what I was told is those type of injuries that he has, he can one morning just wake up and be completely (better),” the Raptors coach said. “We still did not see that morning. So he’s still dealing with some residual effects of that fall. And we’re hopeful that he’s going to be feeling better and playing very soon.”
Rajaković said Quickley has been improving, but he’s obviously not there yet.
• Rajaković said Scottie Barnes (orbital bone fracture) will see a specialist Monday to determine next steps for his injury. He also said Kelly Olynyk (back) is just returning to getting on the court but will likely need a few more weeks until he is game ready.
(Photo of LeBron James dribbling against RJ Barrett: Cole Burston / Getty Images)
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