Here is what you need to know before the Lakers host the Toronto Raptors.
1)
Hardly anybody is drawing fouls as consistently as Lou Williams. The first-year Laker is 14th in made free throws (5.2), even though he is the only one in the top 15 who is coming off the bench.
"Last time I checked you have to score in this league, and he does that," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said before L.A. and Toronto's preseason meeting on Oct. 8. "He puts numbers up. And the main thing he does is get to the free throw line. That’s huge for the team.”
2)
Williams is facing the team that he represented in his finest season. Last year, he averaged a career-high 15.5 points for Toronto. He also led the entire league in points per play out of the pick-and-roll (1.03) on his way to winning Sixth Man of the Year.
3)
Williams’ old squad seems to have picked up on some of his tricks. The Raptors are making more free throws than any other team (23.2) and are outscoring opponents at the foul line by 4.7 points.
4)
The Lakers’ only two games against the Raptors last year couldn’t have been much more different. In their first meeting, Kobe Bryant went off for a triple-double, as L.A. scored a season- and series-high 129 points in an overtime victory. However, four months later only two Lakers scored double figures, as they put up a series-low 83 points in an 11-point loss.
5)
The Raptors began the season as hot as anybody, winning their first five games. But since then, they’ve gone just 2-6. Toronto has also lost the first three contests of its current five-game road tip.
6)
L.A. better take care of the ball, because Toronto employs a pair of master thieves. Kyle Lowry is second in the league in steals (2.62), while DeMarre Carroll had an NBA season-high six swipes against Golden State just three days ago.
7)
Lowry has turned up the offensive side of his game as of late. A first-time all-star last year, Lowry has scored 20-plus points in six straight games and has hit every one of his last 30 free throw attempts.
8)
Compton native and USC product DeMar DeRozan has been his usual high-scoring self, ranking third among shooting guards (21.1 ppg), behind only James Harden (28.8) and Andrew Wiggins (21.5). He also submitted an early entry for dunk of the year by throwing the hammer down on 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert two days ago.
9)
A year after ranking second in the NBA, Jonas Valanciunas is currently sixth in field goal percentage (56.2). The 7-foot Lithuanian is also tied for eighth in rebounding (9.8).
10)
Luis Scola looked like his younger self on Wednesday, dropping a season-best 22 points against Utah. Scola joined Dirk Nowitzki (thrice), Jamal Crawford and Bryant as the only players 35 years or older to hit that mark this season.
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