By admin 
After losing back-to-back games earlier this week, the Los Angeles Lakers It took a win to get back on track. They achieved a victory over the Toronto Raptorsbut it wasn’t easy.
They looked very impressive early on, just like they did on Monday against the Phoenix Suns. They were at the top of their game in the first quarter as they ended the period with a 43-19 lead and led by as many as 26 points in the second quarter.
But the Raptors made things a little interesting later. They outscored Los Angeles 37-23 in the third quarter and continued to battle, pulling within six points with under nine minutes to go. LA increased its lead back to 121-108 with 2:52 to go, but saw it shrink to six points with 13.0 seconds left.
Fortunately, Toronto ran out of steam and simply didn’t have the firepower to prevent the Lakers from escaping with a 131-125 win and improving their record to 4-2. It was their first road victory of the new season.
Anthony Davis: A
After a lackluster 22-point effort in Wednesday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Davis returned to his usual dominant self on Friday. He got going early with nine points in the first quarter and finished with 38 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed 12 rebounds and added three steals, two blocked shots and two assists for an all-around dominant performance.
An impressive aspect of his performance on Friday was the effort he put into releasing the floor and running in transition, which netted him several easy baskets on the fast break. He remains arguably the best big man when it comes to rim running in the NBA.
Davis now ranks sixth in career highs with 35 points and 10 rebounds since the 1976-77 season, tying Hakeem Olajuwon with 80 such games.
Rui Hachimura: D-plus/C-minus
Hachimura has struggled at times to finish shots at or near the rim. He shot 3-for-12 against the Raptors and had just nine points and five rebounds in 33 minutes.
He did hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter after missing nine of his first 10 shot attempts. Those two treys helped LA stay ahead as the Raptors made their late run.
Austin Reaves: C-plus/B-minus
Reaves made just four of his 13 shot attempts and missed all six of his three-point attempts. But he helped make up for that by getting to the free-throw line, where he hit 12 of 14. Overall, he scored 20 points, added six assists and had two steals and one block, and he was able to shake off an apparent bruised ankle in the first half to play his normal number of minutes in the second half.
D’Angelo Russell: B-plus
Russell has been up and down to start the season, but on Friday he found himself near the top of his shooting variance. He was 7 of 13 overall and 3 of 6 from downtown for 19 points, and he also dished out six dimes. Two of his three-pointers came in the fourth quarter to ensure the Lakers kept control of the game.
LeBron James: A
James looked like he was back to his old self after dealing with cold symptoms for the past few days. He attacked well in transition and early, finishing with 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting. He was particularly hot from beyond the arc, as he hit five of his eight attempts from that area, and he also had ten assists and six rebounds while going the entire game without committing a turnover, which is somewhat rare for him.
Jaxson Hayes: B-plus
Hayes was a little more active than usual against the Raptors. He grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots while scoring four points in 15 minutes of playing time.
Gabe Vincent: D
Vincent has had issues with his outside shooting to start this season. He entered Friday’s game shooting just 33.3% from the field and 25% from 3-point land, and versus Toronto he missed all four of his 3-point attempts and was 1 of 6 overall.
Max Christie: B-minus
Christie made a decent effort in 13 minutes on Friday. He made his lone field goal attempt and all five of his attempts from the charity stripe, which gave him seven points, and he did some work on the boards that resulted in five rebounds while also contributing one assist.
Dalton Knecht: C
Knecht was 2 of 5 overall and 1 of 3 from downtown for five points, two rebounds and one assist. But while he didn’t make much of an impact statistically, his mere presence on the field helps his teammates as opponents know they can’t get away with helping him defensively.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: LA advances past the Raptors to improve to 4-2