The Lakers had a chance to coast home against the Raptors, but JJ Redick wasn’t willing to let that happen after his bench nearly turned a comfortable finish into a mess.
Los Angeles had one of its strongest showings of the 2026-27 season, building a lead as large as 26 points and still sitting on a 16-point cushion inside the final two minutes. At that point, Redick went to his bench to close things out. Instead, the reserves let Toronto back into the game enough to force a change of plan.
Redick had to bring Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler, and Matisse Thybulle back onto the floor to steady things and finish off the 131-125 win.
The move made sense in the moment, but it also left Redick clearly frustrated with what he saw from the second unit. He wanted to rest his starters, but the bench’s play made that impossible. Rather than risk losing a game the Lakers had already controlled for most of the night, he had to put his best players back in to make sure the result held.
“I won’t make that mistake again. I’ll leave the guys in. You got to play to the final buzzer,” Redick said about sending his bench in after getting a 16-point lead.
The Lakers escaped with the win, but the late wobble is the kind of warning sign that can stick with a team. For Redick and his players, the lesson is simple: a big lead still has to be finished the right way. They can’t ease up and assume the job is done.
In Other News...
Luka Doncic Is Giving Lakers Fans A New Debate After Another Heavy Lift
Luka Doncic kept dragging the Lakers through another tight night, and the 131-125 win over Toronto only added to the sense that every game seems to come with a fresh discussion about how much he is carrying. He piled up 45 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, giving Los Angeles the kind of all-around production that can cover for uneven stretches elsewhere in the rotation.
Walker Kessler was one of the few other steady presences, finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds while also making his mark on the defensive end. He praised Doncics defensive intelligence, which is part of what makes these nights so interesting for the Lakers: the star is doing so much on one end that his value keeps expanding beyond the box score, even as the rest of the roster continues to have its share of mixed results. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Doncic Had Extra Fire In A Huge Lakers Bounce-Back Win
Luka Doncic gave the Lakers exactly the kind of response they needed in a 131-125 bounce-back win over the Raptors, piling up 45 points with 15 rebounds, six assists, five steals and a block. He did it with the kind of efficiency that has become his calling card, hitting 12 of 23 shots, knocking down eight of 12 from deep and going a perfect 13 for 13 at the line.
It was the 71st 40-point game of Doncics career, another reminder of how quickly he can take over a night when the Lakers need a jolt. And while the box score already told a big story, the game carried an extra edge around one tense sequence that helped fuel the emotion behind his latest standout performance. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Doncics Hot Streak Is Exposing A Bigger Lakers Problem
Luka Doncic has been carrying the Lakers offense through a recent stretch that has only sharpened the conversation around how much help he is getting. He has turned in several huge scoring nights lately, including a season-high 52 points against the Utah Jazz, and the Lakers have still gone just 1-2 over their last three games.
The bigger issue is starting to look familiar: beyond Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers have struggled to find reliable offensive support on a night-to-night basis. When Doncic is scoring at that level, the expectation is that the rest of the roster can at least help turn those performances into wins, but the recent results suggest that balance is still missing. [Read more 🡒]