The Lakers survived a bruising night in Toronto, but JJ Redick didn’t leave the game talking about the 131-125 win so much as the way it was played.
Los Angeles escaped with a road victory Sunday night to move to 5-2, and Luka Doncic was the biggest reason why. He poured in 45 points and also turned in strong defensive work, yet the Lakers still had to hang on after the Raptors kept forcing the issue all night. Toronto’s pressure led to 22 Lakers turnovers, and Redick made it clear afterward that he believed the whistle played a role in that number.
“We scored 131 with 24 turnovers… Some of those turnovers are because we’re like legitimately getting fouled. Like, it’s not like, ‘Was that a foul?
Was that not a foul?’ I told one of the referees this because all these guys do it, all the on-ball defenders now.”
“What they do is they pick you up, and then they grab the arm you’re not dribbling with, and then they try to steal the ball from you. Famously, Cason Wallace did it with T.J.
McConnell. That’s just the NBA right now.”
“It’s really hard when you, when you play teams like this that are just fouling every possession. I thought we did enough to play through it, but a lot of those turnovers are just that, and then you can point to some decision-making, some passes, all that stuff. Those naturally happen within the flow of the game.”
Redick’s point was that not every turnover came from sloppy play. He said some were the result of contact he felt should have been whistled, and the game’s closing minutes backed up at least part of that frustration. Toronto repeatedly blitzed the Lakers’ primary ball-handler as soon as he crossed half-court, creating chaos late in the fourth quarter.
One sequence stood out in particular: Doncic drove to the basket in the fourth, appeared to be dragged by Scottie Barnes, and still finished the layup. The official didn’t call a foul, and Redick reacted strongly enough to draw a technical.
Luka Doncic scores a layup in the 4th quarter, giving him 39 points, and he cannot believe he didn’t get a foul call.
JJ Redick joins the protests and yaps in the ref’s face, receiving a tech.
With replays.
- MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) November 2, 2026
Redick had already hinted before the game that Toronto’s physical style can shape how officials call things. He said the Raptors establish that tone early by fouling and playing aggressively, which can influence what gets allowed later.
That idea lines up with the numbers from Sunday. Toronto entered the game averaging 28.2 personal fouls per contest, the highest mark in the NBA, and they were called for 26 against the Lakers.
None of that changes the final result for Los Angeles, but it does explain why the night felt so tense. The Lakers did enough to win, yet Redick’s postgame message was clear: against a team that plays this way, the margin for error gets thin fast, and the Lakers have to handle that pressure better when the game tightens up.
In Other News...
Raptors Suddenly Have A Jakob Poeltl Problem Bigger Than His Play
Jakob Poeltls early-season role has become one of the more uncomfortable issues hanging over the Raptors, and it is not just about what he has done on the floor. The starting centers play has drawn scrutiny, but the bigger conversation around him is starting to drift into roster construction and cap math, which is usually a sign a team has more than one problem on its hands.
Around the league, the suggested fixes have ranged from trimming his minutes to leaning more on other bigs, including Trayce Jackson-Davis, or even exploring a veteran addition at center. The most extreme idea in the mix is a move that would open financial flexibility by waiving and stretching Poeltls contract, which shows how quickly a performance question can turn into a front-office dilemma when a team is trying to balance the present with what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Loss Exposed A Problem They Couldnt Afford Against The Lakers
Jakob Poeltls absence loomed over Torontos trip to Crypto.com Arena, where the Raptors dropped a 131-125 decision to the Lakers and spent much of the night trying to survive without their usual interior presence. Poeltl was ruled out with bursitis, and the mismatch showed up in the places Toronto least wanted it to, especially against a Los Angeles group that could lean on Luka Doncics 45-point outburst.
Even with all those turnovers forced, the Raptors could not turn enough of those extra chances into the kind of margin they needed. It left Toronto with a familiar frustration: effort was there, but the size issue was hard to ignore, and against a Lakers team that kept finding answers, it became the difference between staying in control and chasing the game late. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Have An Offensive Problem Fans Cant Ignore
The Raptors loss to the Lakers was another reminder that their offense can look stuck when the game slows down. Scottie Barnes did his part with 29 points, but Toronto had trouble generating clean looks in the half-court, and the gaps showed up once the pace dropped and the Lakers were able to settle in defensively.
Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett were less effective as creators in those moments, which only sharpened the concern around a group still trying to find reliable answers without Kawhi Leonard in the lineup. With Leonard out and no clear return timetable, Toronto is left leaning harder on improvisation than structure, and that is becoming harder to ignore as the losses pile up. [Read more 🡒]