Fields scores 18 as Raptors beat struggling Lakers

By IAN HARRISON

TORONTO (AP) Landry Fields had a season-high 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors sent the Los Angeles Lakers to their fifth straight road loss, 108-103 on Sunday.

Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Pau Gasol had 25 for the Lakers, whose road skid is their longest in six years. Dwight Howard was ejected after drawing his second technical foul with 1:18 left in the first half.

Jose Calderon had 22 points and nine assists while Ed Davis had 18 points and eight rebounds for Toronto. Alan Anderson added 14 points and eight assists as the Raptors ended a four-game losing streak against the Lakers.

Howard got his first technical for arguing after a missed jump shot with 4:43 left in the first quarter. The star center was tossed after he and Anderson were called on a double technical when they got tangled up after a free throw. Howard finished with five points in 17 minutes.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Kyle Lowry and layups by Terrence Ross and Anderson gave Toronto a 95-76 lead with 7:29 left, forcing the Lakers to call timeout.

Los Angeles responded with a 3 by Nash and, after a layup by Fields, a pair of 3-pointers by Bryant and a layup by Antawn Jamison made it 97-87 with 5:22 remaining.

Bryant hit a 3 with 1:35 left, cutting it to 103-97, but Amir Johnson rebounded Anderson's miss and scored a layup to make it an eight-point game with 1:02 left.

Gasol returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench for the first time in his Lakers career in Thursday's loss to Miami. Gasol had sat out the previous five games with a concussion after being accidentally elbowed in the face by Denver's JaVale McGee.

It was a slow start for the Lakers, who missed 12 of their first 15 shots and were down 19-4 with 5:50 left in the first. Bryant missed his first six shots and made just one of eight in the opening quarter as Toronto led 29-20.

Gasol scored 10 points and Bryant had nine in the third, but the Raptors got 10 points from Fields and six each from Calderon and Davis to take an 83-70 edge into the fourth.

NOTES: Raptors C Andrea Bargnani (right elbow) has resumed working with a basketball, while rookie C Jonas Valanciunas (broken right ring finger) is lifting weights, coach Dwane Casey said. ... Nash made his first visit to Toronto since passing on a contract offer from the Raptors to sign with Los Angeles last summer. ... This was the first game of a three-game road trip for the Lakers, who will also visit Chicago and Memphis. ... Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban attended the game.

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POSTGAME QUOTES



Mike D'Antoni:

Thoughts on the game…
We started off awful, we had no energy, and we lose Dwight (Howard). We made some runs and got our energy up a little bit, but we didn’t play great. The ball didn’t want to move, we got it really stuck. Again, I’m talking about us, they played well, they played hard and you have got to give them credit.

When Dwight Howard got ejected did you still feel like you could come back and win the game?
Yes, we got to within four points at halftime and I thought we had a good shot at it. But a couple of threes by (Kyle) Lowry at a bad time hurt us and we just forgot. Again, I just think the way we’re playing is not conducive to winning.

What s the biggest issue for your team?
We have a lot of issues. Offensively, the ball sticks and we don’t take very good shots. Offensively we struggle and then defensively, our ups-and-downs and we forget guys.

What’s the focus as you prepare for the Bulls?
Get the Lakers right. We haven’t got it right and that’s got to be our focus. It doesn’t have anything to do with the other teams; it’s got to do a lot with us.

Another chapter in the Lakers story…
We find a lot of ways to make it interesting that’s for sure. It’s disappointing obviously; I think you have to give credit to Toronto they played well. We are disappointed in our performance. I thought our effort was spotty and a little lazy cutting corners. I know we flew across the country yesterday and played an early 10:00 am west coast game, so for me that’s not an excuse but a sign. We have to come ready to play early and I didn’t feel like we were ready to play. I thought we cut too many corners at too many different times in the game. It was too big of a hole to climb out of.

What is missing?
I just think the cohesion. I think we do it sometimes and sometimes we don’t do what we’ve talked about and break away. Maybe that’s because we need more time, but to me mentally we need to stick with the script. Right now we are defecting from the script too many times.

Is there a level of urgency?
Yes, it’s a frustrating loss and I will say there has definitely been urgency here, in theory. Today wasn’t that urgent. Today wasn’t a great performance but the guys have come in everyday, had a good attitude and worked together and tried to support each other. We are just not finding a consistent level out of our group. We just have to keep plugging away.

Can you see a good team in here?
Of course, the other night we were tied versus Miami with two minutes left and we could have been so much more efficient and effective in so many different ways. You think in time we can shore that up, but we’re running out of time and we don’t have a ton of time to prepare because guys are playing heavy minutes. So it is a lot of film work and needs to translate into a higher clip.

What bothers you the most after that loss?
Well, I felt that we played hard. We got off to a slow start, but I felt like in the second we were pretty active but they busted us on a good run that really stretched the ball game. We tried to push but ran out of time.

Did it seem like a quick second technical on Dwight Howard?
I really don’t agree with that one at all. What is a player supposed to do, a guy he’s confronting and trying to walk back up the court. The official told me, well he should just walk away. I said which direction, should he just turn around and walk to the bench. He was walking down to the other end of the court to get back on offence. There is nothing he can do when a guy steps up to him and puts a forearm in his chest. You say one thing and now it’s a double technical and just don’t agree with that.

Does it seem like a lot of stuff isn’t going the teams’ way right now?
Yes, but it is not as bad as it looks. There are some positive things in terms of what we are doing, our activity and things like that. We just have to rest up and get ready for tomorrow.“We have to get to the front lines here and start picking up full court, start harassing guys… That was a challenge I wanted to pick up for sure."

Is it a continuing process to get you easier looks?
I just have to rest my legs, my legs are a little tired and my shot is just short. That’s on me, I’ll take this loss on me gladly. There were a lot of easy shots, a lot of them, I should put down and I will. So that is just on me.

Is there a sense of urgency?
Yes for sure. We get down a little bit but tonight I felt like we really picked each other up, stayed positive and stayed aggressive. They just made some big shots and wound up stretching the ball game, but still in all we continued to push. We had an opportunity there but (Jose) Calderon made a big shot. They also got a big offensive rebound that enabled them to stretch the game and finish the game.

What was the conversation you had with Metta (World Peace) after the game about?
I think the only way we can get out of this situation, the path we’ve been on, is by communicating and coming to an understanding of what needs to be done as a unit, we can’t do it on our own. Right now there are a few cracks in our game that we need to cover, we need to make sure that they disappear, that they go away. The only way that can happen is if we talk about it as a unit, understand each other and figure it out.

Thoughts on the play of Landry Fields…
I thought he did a solid job, not only offensively, but running the floor and being active. We knew that if they were going to put Steve Nash on him that he would have an opportunity to crash the boards, run the floor and do all the little things that create problems and openings for us on the offensive end. His energy and running the floor was really infectious.

Thoughts on the game…
I thought that was one of the most complete games we’ve had all year from top to bottom. I thought our zone was effective, even when we were mixed up, they were mixed up. Sometimes when you’re confused, they’re confused. It was a good team effort and we executed down the stretch which we didn’t do the other night. It’s the little things, ball movement, man movement, transition defense and then when the shot goes up box out.

Thoughts on Jose Calderon and the pick and roll…
Kobe (Bryant) is one of the best, I saw it firsthand a couple of years ago in the Western Conference finals against Jason Kidd. He disrupted everything with just a one-man press. I thought Jose today handled it with skill and poise; because if he was off balance and shaky everyone else would have been. He did a big time job of making reads, find the cutters, finding the roll man and being aggressive with his shot.

Thoughts on going up against Kobe Bryant…
It was different at the beginning and at the end. He is a great all –around player and he can play great defense, but maybe they aren’t used to guarding so many screen and rolls. I was trying to put him in as many screen and rolls as possible to get him out of that pressure.

Thoughts on play of Landry Fields…
It was great. Like I told Landry today, we just need time to play together. He’s been out, so now I can get to know him a little bit more and what he is comfortable with. I hit him three times in a row. When you are feeling comfortable I’m hitting you.

Thoughts on finishing this game strong…
I have to give credit to my teammates who did a great job today. We really responded to the coaches telling us to keep fighting and eventually the ball will turn our way. I think we did that and hopefully this gives us momentum going into this road trip.

Thoughts on playing with Jose Calderon…
It’s getting out there and understanding what guys like to do. I think he’s starting to realize where I’m at times and it’s me reading him, too. I want to let him do his thing. I always want to be an outlet whether it’s a cut or coming behind for a shot.

Thoughts on defending Kobe Bryant…
Coaches told me I was going to be guarding Kobe. He’s one of the top two players of all time, arguably and he’s going to get his points. There is no way of stopping him you just have to make it as hard as possible. That has been my mindset ever since I came into the league, react to his first move because he gives a bunch of them and remain as solid and contest his shot as best as possible.

Lakers-Raptors Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO

With their four superstars together on the floor, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to build more chemistry while trying to turn things around on the road.

Hoping to avoid their first five-game road skid in six years, the Lakers try for a fifth consecutive victory over the hard-luck Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

Despite losing seven of nine, Los Angeles (17-22) was close to a victory Thursday before falling 99-90 at home to Miami. With Pau Gasol back after missing five games with a concussion, the Lakers went on a 14-3 run to take a three-point fourth-quarter lead before LeBron James helped the Heat pull away.

"I thought we played well enough to beat them," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "That's a championship team.

"It's a good measuring stick. We have to get better. We've got to get smoother."

Even with Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash together for only the 10th game this season, Los Angeles shot 43.1 percent, committed 20 turnovers and went scoreless in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

"We couldn't get a rhythm and I thought we could have made a lot more money out of a lot of situations over the course of the night that we will down the road," Nash said. "I think we showed our lack of common experiences."

Gasol, who didn't start, had 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and five fouls in 24 minutes. After scoring 53 over the previous two games, Dwight Howard had 13 points and 16 rebounds but went 5 of 13 from the free-throw line.

Kobe Bryant, who scored 22, found reason for optimism after Los Angeles held its third straight opponent to fewer than 100 points after giving up 111.8 in the previous six.

"It's not much of a setback," he said.

The Lakers begin a three-game trip trying to avoid losing five straight away from home for the first time since March 4-15, 2007. They may have a good chance to avoid matching that slide as they've won two in a row at Toronto and are 12-4 there overall.

Bryant scored 27 and hit a fadeaway jumper with 4.2 seconds left to give the Lakers a fourth consecutive victory in the series, 94-92 at Air Canada Centre on Feb. 12.

Howard averaged 30.0 points in his last three games there with Orlando.

Hoping to avoid their third losing streak of at least five contests, the Raptors (14-56) have dropped each of the last three by seven or fewer points - the past two in overtime. After falling 107-105 to Chicago on Wednesday, the Raptors blew a 19-point lead en route to a 108-101 defeat at Philadelphia on Friday.

"When you want to become an elite team and that team wants to win and make the playoffs, you don't have an ease mode," said guard Kyle Lowry, who had 11 points and 11 assists against the 76ers. "You have to go hard and try to win every game and keep it going."

Toronto has struggled to sustain anything positive with Andrea Bargnani out indefinitely and Jonas Valanciunas and Linas Kleiza day to day.

Point guard Jose Calderon has totaled 50 points and 18 assists while going 21 of 32 (65.6 percent) from the field in the last two home contests versus Los Angeles.

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers won their lone meeting with the Raptors last season on a Kobe Bryant fadeaway jumper from the corner with 4.8 seconds remaining after sweeping the 2010-11 series with Toronto 2-0. The two teams have split six season series while the Lakers have swept the other ten. This will be the 32nd meeting between the two teams with the Lakers leading the all-time series 25-6. In the team’s 20th meeting back on January 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant made NBA history, scoring 81 points including 55 points in the second half to bring the Lakers back from 18 down to defeat the Raptors 122-104 at STAPLES Center. Only Wilt Chamberlain in March of 1962 scored more points in a game (100) and points in a half (59) than Bryant. In addition, Bryant eclipsed Elgin Baylor’s franchise record 71 points in a game and his own franchise record for points in a half (42) in what was ultimately the Lakers largest come-from-behind victory of the season. The 122 points scored by the Lakers in the contest were the most ever scored by Los Angeles against Toronto, eclipsing the old mark of 120 points established in the teams’ first ever game back on December 8, 1995. Back on February 1, 2008, the Lakers matched their largest margin of victory against Toronto with a 121-101 victory at Air Canada Centre. The Lakers are 8-2 in their last 10 overall games against the Raptors and have won four straight. The Lakers are 10-2 all-time against the Raptors at STAPLES Center and are winners of their last nine in a row at home. When visiting Toronto, the Lakers are 12-4 all-time against the Raptors and 7-3 in their last 10 visits to Air Canada Centre. In 27 career games (23 starts) against Toronto, Kobe Bryant is averaging 27.9 points, his second highest total against any one team behind Charlotte (29.3). Lakers forward Pau Gasol and Raptors guard Jose Calderon have both played for Spain internationally as members of the 2012 Olympic silver medal team, 2011 Eurobasket Championship gold medal team, the 2008 Olympic silver medal team and the gold medal winning Spanish 2006 FIBA World Championship team. Raptors center/forward Amir Johnson played his prep ball locally at Westchester HS. Metta World Peace and Raptors guard Kyle Lowry were teammates in Houston during the 2008-09 season while Gasol and Lowry played in Memphis together in 2006-07 and part of 2007-08. Raptors guard/forward Mickael Pietrus and Dwight Howard were teammates with Orlando (2008-11).

BYNUM RECORDS SECOND CAREER 20-20 GAME
With the Lakers trailing by four points with 1:41 to play after leading each of the first three quarters and for most of the fourth, Kobe Bryant connected on a three with 56.6 seconds remaining, stole the ball on the ensuing possession, set up Metta World Peace for the go-ahead fast break layup and after a Jose Calderon 17-footer put Toronto back ahead, knocked down a fade-away jumper from the corner with 4.8 seconds on the clock to ultimately secure a 94-92 victory for the Lakers at Air Canada Centre. The win gave the Lakers a 3-3 split on their season-high 6-game Grammy road trip. Bryant finished with a team-high 27 points including 11 in the final period. Pau Gasol (16 points, game-high 17 rebounds, team-high 6 assists) and Andrew Bynum (14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks) were the only other Lakers in double-figures. Calderon led all scorers with a career-high 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting (4-4 3FG). Linas Kleiza (15 points) and Leandro Barbosa (12 points) came off the bench to each post doublefigure scoring games while Demar DeRozan finished with a game-high seven assists but only eight points on 2-of-13 shooting in the loss.