After a frustrating 121-114 NBA Cup loss to the Orlando Magic, the Toronto Raptors begin a four-game road trip tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers at 9:00 PM EST. As Toronto continues to maneuver through the beginning of the season without seven-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard, it may take another heroic performance from franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes to keep up with six-time First-Team All-NBA selection Luka Doncic.

The star backcourt pairing of the Slovenian and Austin Reaves is averaging 60 points and 12.9 assists per game, good for the second-most PPG+APG in the league between two teammates this season (via StatMuse). Fresh off a career-high 41 points Friday night, Barnes will look to continue his momentum into Crypto.com Arena and hopefully bring his teammates along with him. 

According to the official NBA injury report, Toronto will display the same lineup as the last few games, with only the two-ways, Nate Bittle and Malachi Smith, out for tonight’s contest alongside Leonard. For LA, Adou Thiero continues to sit due to left knee injury management, while Ziaire Williams was ultimately ruled out after initially being listed as questionable as he nurses a left heel injury. Rookie first-round pick Cameron Carr is off the report, meaning his NBA debut will come against the relentless Toronto defense.

There’s only so much one can do to slow down Doncic. The reigning scoring champion has the third-highest career points per game in NBA history (29.28) and is the only player averaging 30+ points per game this season (36.2). The key to slowing the Lakers down is not to try and match his scoring, but rather to force his supporting cast to show up. 

In a 112-95 loss to the Golden State Warriors Friday night, Doncic scored 37 points with a team-high +9 box plus/minus. The bench was able to contribute just seven points in the contest, showing that when the former No. 3 pick in the 2018 NBA draft is doubled, he doesn’t have much help around him. 

Unfortunately for the Raptors, their bench has been far from stellar themselves. They currently rank 19th in the league in bench scoring (34.6 ppg) and have really only been able to rely on second-year rising star Collin Murray-Boyles. Ja’Kobe Walter has replaced the injured Leonard in the starting lineup, so without his scoring, Toronto has struggled to find consistent offense off the bench.

If the Raptors want to win this game, it will have to be a collective effort. Doncic is adept at not letting opponents frustrate him, but if they can disrupt the passing lanes and force him into bad turnovers, he may resort to poor shot-selection. Simultaneously, the ball-handlers other than Doncic and Reaves haven’t proven to be elite at quick decision making yet, so Toronto needs to attack them as soon as they touch the ball to overwhelm them and get out in transition for easy fastbreak points. Last season, the Raptors had one of the worst records in the league against the NBA’s top-10 teams. With a blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves already this year, tonight is the next test to see whether this young Raptors team can rewrite the script or have a repeat year as fake contenders.