The Los Angeles Lakers may be inching back toward winning basketball after putting together back-to-back wins. They scratched out a win on Sunday against a Los Angeles Clippers team that had been red hot, and on Tuesday, they survived a fierce battle against the Toronto Raptors.
The Lakers defeated Toronto in large part because they went to the free-throw line quite often. They went 28-of-36 from the charity stripe while Toronto was 8-of-13 in that category. The disparity in free throws was especially pronounced in the fourth quarter when L.A. was 19-of-23 on foul shots while the Raptors had two such attempts.
After his team lost, 132-131, to the Purple and Gold, Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković was livid about what he perceived as biased officiating.
"They had to win tonight? If that's the case, just let us know so we don't show up for the game. Just give them the win. That was not fair tonight."
Raptors coach Darko Rajaković went OFF on the officials after their loss to the Lakers🤯
(via @Kayla_Grey)pic.twitter.com/CrKCXWLQ7I
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 10, 2024
While it is understandable he was livid, whether the Lakers deserved so many more free throws or not, he made one hyperbolic statement when he said Scottie Barnes is “going to be the face of” the NBA.
Memo to Rajaković: While Barnes is a very good player (he had 26 points and six assists on Tuesday), he isn’t quite on that level.