The Lakers this season have generally played to the level of their competition. That's a nice thing in games against, say, Milwaukee or Oklahoma City. But it's been an issue against the lousy teams in the league as well. Tuesday in Toronto, the Lakers faced off against a Toronto Raptors team that had lost 13 straight games, and simply could not afford a letdown. This was a game they needed to win... 

And it was one of their better games of the season against a team like this one. After a slow start, the Lakers took control about halfway through the first quarter. They hit a minor lull near the half, but then came out in the third and completely blew the game open with a 36-21 quarter and in the end, the players you want to see playing in the fourth (Maxwell Lewis, Colin Castleton, etc.) were on the floor, and Anthony Davis and LeBron James were both under 30 minutes. 

Only one starter (D'Angelo Russell) cracked that 30 minute barrier. 

That'll help tonight when the Lakers face off against the Wizards in Washington, in another must-win game and a chance to move 11 games over .500 and finish the road trip at 5-1. 

Is the rest of the conference cooperating? Not really! But the Lakers are, at the least, taking care of what they can, and are giving themselves a chance to improve their postseason lot. That's about all they can do at this point. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers win in Toronto

SEGMENT 2: 10 games over .500... and still stuck in 9th... 

SEGMENT 3: Are they peaking at the right time? 

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