Lakers take down Raptors behind Deandre Ayton's perfect night

The Lakers are back in the win column after taking down the Toronto Raptors 110-93 at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday behind a perfect night from their starting center, Deandre Ayton.

Ayton became the third player in franchise history to be perfect from the field with at least 10 shot attempts, finishing the game with 25 points and 13 rebounds on 10-for-10 shooting. He joined Wilt Chamberlain (March 11, 1969) and Mitch Kupchak (Nov. 20, 1981) as the only Lakers to do so.

It was the third time this season Ayton finished perfect from the field and with double-digit scoring.

Along with the Lakers' starting bigman's best performance of the season, Luka Dončić and LeBron James also finished with over 20 points in the Lakers' 25th win of the season.

Dončić made his return to the lineup after being sidelined against the Trail Blazers on Saturday, finishing with 25 points and seven assists. James played in both back-to-back games for the second time this season and in a row, finishing with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

After producing solid minutes in the road loss in Portland, Drew Timme earned more minutes from coach JJ Redick and even got words of approval from James himself after the game, resulting in the sophomore getting some early minutes against the Raptors.

Redick started Timme to begin the second quarter after the Lakers struggled to a slow start, trailing 30-23 at the end of the first quarter. Redick went with a big lineup that included Marcus Smart, Jarred Vanderbilt, Drew Timme, James and Ayton to begin the second.

That group outmatched and even outperformed Toronto, outscoring them 15-3. The Lakers rode that momentum for the rest of the quarter, but Raptors big man Sandro Mamukelashvili, yes, him, gave the Lakers fits, keeping the score close. Mamukelashvili finished with 20 points on eight-of-12 shooting.

The Lakers ended the first half with a one-point lead after Dončić beat the horn with his signature patented step-back 3 that got the sold-out crowd buzzing. After a back-and-forth third-quarter start, the Lakers slowly pulled away with the score.

Their efficiency in the third kept them riding the momentum, hitting five of their 10 attempts from 3 and eight of 12 from two. The Lakers' push had them outscore the Raptors 32-26 in the third and finally put them away with a 23-13 score in the fourth.

The Lakers improved to 25-16  and 12-8 at home as they still remain in the sixth spot in the West.

They concluded five games in six days but will now go on an eight-game road trip, starting in Denver on Tuesday.