Los Angeles Lakers vs Toronto Raptors Injury Report and Game Preview

Two days after letting a big lead slip away in San Francisco, the Los Angeles Lakers host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night with a 4-2 record.

Toronto comes in at 3-2, and this game is the first stop on a four-game road trip that also takes the Raptors to the Clippers, Denver and Milwaukee.

The Lakers have three names on Sunday morning's official injury report.

Center Walker Kessler is listed as available with a left finger splint, so he should be ready to go.

Forward Adou Thiero is out with what the report calls left knee injury management.

Forward Ziaire Williams is the biggest loss, as he is now out with left foot and heel injury management after missing his second straight game on Friday because of soreness in that foot.

Head coach JJ Redick explained on Friday why the team is not rushing him back.

"He still has some soreness," Redick said Friday. "He's going to have to continue to monitor it. He was in shoot-around this morning. Again, just being really cautious with the amount of games we have throughout the season."

Toronto will be without forward Kawhi Leonard, who is out with left knee injury management.

Leonard is back with the Raptors after a trade with the Clippers that the NBA approved in September, a deal that sent forward Brandon Ingram and guard Gradey Dick to Los Angeles.

Center Nate Bittle is also out with a right avulsion fracture, and guard Malachi Smith is out while on assignment in the G League as a two-way player.

The Lakers jumped out to a 25-point lead at Golden State, but the Warriors came all the way back and won 112-95.

Guard Luka Doncic scored 37 points with seven rebounds and five assists, while Kessler had 10 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.

Guard Austin Reaves scored 21 points but turned the ball over eight times, and the Lakers finished with 22 turnovers as a team.

Doncic took the blame after the game, which is the right attitude.

Turnovers are the first thing Los Angeles has to clean up, and Reaves knows he has to be better after he owned up to his rough night in San Francisco.

Without Leonard, the biggest problem for the Lakers is forward Scottie Barnes.

He scored 41 points on 19-of-34 shooting in Friday's 121-114 home loss to the Orlando Magic, so slowing him down will be the main job for the Lakers' defense.

Even so, I think the Lakers win this game at home, because Doncic is rolling and the biggest standouts through the first five games show the help is coming from more than just the stars.

Toronto is also missing Leonard on the first night of a long trip, so a cleaner game with the ball should be enough.

The schedule does not slow down after this one, since the Lakers host the Miami Heat on Monday night to finish a back-to-back.

Williams may be more crucial than we originally thought.