The people here know it.
For the 75th time in his NBA career, LeBron James stepped onto the court to take on the Toronto Raptors. And before Friday, James’ team had won 56, including a trio of playoff series.
Still, fans in Toronto always enjoy James’ annual appearance in Canada, cheering every time he competes, only to see him leave town with another win.
On Friday, it was a 14-point first quarter that set the tone, with James casually bullying a young Toronto team before the Lakers held on to win 131-125.
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Before the game, James bounced around in the locker room, the illness that had slowed him down for the past week largely out of his system. He arrived at the arena wearing the Ghostface mask from “Scream” and wasted little time terrorizing the Raptors, even though Halloween was a day early.
After their first two losses of the season, James and the Lakers have recommitted to many of the principles that coach JJ Redick tried to instill in them early this season.
“We played extremely well,” Anthony Davis said. “The ball moved. We look good and provide great opportunities for each other. Our defense was phenomenal. Everything we talked about after our two defeats, we executed in the first half. And if we play like that, we’ll be a tough team to beat.”
The Lakers were stagnant against Cleveland on Wednesday, opening Friday’s game with pace and precision and quickly jumping out to a 21-point lead, with Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic angrily calling a timeout every few possessions.
But while the Lakers led by 25 at halftime, the Raptors were far from done. They climbed back into the game and got within single digits several times in the second half.
But James’ play — he had 27 points and 10 assists — combined with big shots from Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell and a return to form for Davis all kept the Raptors from ever taking the lead.
“Today we took two steps forward,” James said. “That’s a good sign for our baseball club.”
Gradey Dick scored 31 points and tried to make it three in less than a minute, but the shot went out. RJ Barrett scored 33 to lead the Raptors as Toronto played without starters Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley.
Davis made a pair of free throws to ice the Lakers’ fourth win of the season. He led the Lakers with 38 points and 12 rebounds. Davis has scored at least 30 in each of the four Lakers wins.
While the game became tight in the second half after Toronto outscored the Lakers by 14 points in the third quarter, the only meaningful hiccup came in the second half when Austin Reaves rolled his ankle and had to return to the locker room.
He was able to play in the second half, although he showed some signs of discomfort.
“We won, so that’s all that matters,” Reaves said. “The first few minutes after rolling I had some pain, but I had to come back here, do a little treatment, walk around and I felt good.”
The Lakers are still without Christian Wood and Jared Vanderbilt as the pair recover from offseason surgeries. Redick said Vanderbilt was making progress but wasn’t close to playing.
‘He’s had some inconveniences, no setbacks. I think the discomfort is normal now that he has increased his on-field activities as he has had two surgeries,” Redick said before the game. “But yes, he is making progress. But I don’t think he’s a day or two away from playing. We will have another update in a week or so.”
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The Lakers’ trip continues Monday in Detroit against the Pistons.
Davis said the game, like Friday’s, is important.
“We have to win games,” Davis said. “We lost two in a row. We lost by beating ourselves. So I think we are very capable of putting pressure on ourselves so that we can play games where it is a must to win.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
