Monday’s fourth NBA Week 6 match is between Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers. The opening tip-off is set to commence at 13:40pm with the game to be played at Staples Center. The home team Los Angeles Lakers are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers.
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When: 13:40 | Monday 09/12/2013
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Toronto Raptors $2.88 vs Los Angeles Lakers $1.44 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
Toronto Raptors $2.75 vs Los Angeles Lakers $1.46 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison:
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 |
 |
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| Toronto Raptors | 2.88 | 2.65 | 2.75 | 2.65 | 2.88 | 2.77 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 1.44 | 1.50 | 1.46 | 1.50 | 1.44 | 1.45 |
Teams:
Toronto Raptors:
| Num | Player | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Quincy Acy | ||||||
| 14 | D.J. Augustin | ||||||
| 13 | Dwight Buycks | ||||||
| 5 | Austin Daye | ||||||
| 10 | DeMar DeRozan | ||||||
| 2 | Landry Fields | ||||||
| 22 | Rudy Gay | ||||||
| 34 | Aaron Gray | ||||||
| 50 | Tyler Hansbrough | ||||||
| 15 | Amir Johnson | ||||||
| 7 | Kyle Lowry | ||||||
| 16 | Steve Novak | ||||||
| 31 | Terrence Ross | ||||||
| 77 | Julyan Stone | ||||||
| 17 | Jonas Valanciunas |
Los Angeles Lakers:
| Num | Player |
|---|---|
| 5 | Steve Blake |
| 24 | Kobe Bryant |
| 1 | Jordan Farmar |
| 16 | Pau Gasol |
| 2 | Elias Harris |
| 7 | Xavier Henry |
| 27 | Jordan Hill |
| 11 | Wesley Johnson |
| 9 | Chris Kaman |
| 4 | Ryan Kelly |
| 20 | Jodie Meeks |
| 10 | Steve Nash |
| 50 | Robert Sacre |
| 3 | Shawne Williams |
| 0 | Nick Young |
Preview:
Kobe Bryant’s torn left Achilles healed up just in time for the Los Angeles Lakers’ star guard to try sending Toronto home with another loss at Staples Center.
The future Hall of Famer will make his season debut Sunday night against the Raptors, a team he’s gone 13-1 against at home in his career – including 10 straight wins.
“I don’t feel like I have any limitations really,” Bryant said after Thursday’s practice as he prepares to play for the first time since suffering the injury on April 12 in a home win over Golden State.
“The change of gear is not quite where I want it to be, but it’s easy to compensate through that and go out there and be effective.”
While he might be eased into full minutes, Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni expects what he always has from Bryant.
“That he’ll be a dominant player,” D’Antoni said.
That’s been especially true against the Raptors.
Toronto (6-12) is one of two teams Bryant has a career scoring average of better than 28 points against, and his career-high 81 points on Jan. 22, 2006 came against them at Staples Center. He scored 41 in the last meeting, a 118-116 home win on March 8.
With wins in six of their last eight since Nov. 17, the Lakers (10-9) find themselves without much of a hole to dig out of in the Pacific Division after a 4-7 start. Friday’s 106-100 win at Sacramento ensured they’d have a winning record when Bryant returned.
Six Lakers scored in double figures, led by Pau Gasol and Jodie Meeks with 19 each. Meeks made two 3-pointers in the final minutes and went 5 of 6 from beyond the arc.
The Lakers have nine players averaging at least 8.3 points. Gasol’s 14.5 leads the way, but that’s almost certain to change with the franchise’s all-time leading scorer returning.
“We knew at the beginning of the season we were going to have to do it by committee,” Meeks said. “We don’t have any superstars. Our superstar is coming back Sunday, but 19 games we didn’t, so we had to share the ball.”
Bryant is unlikely to be sharing any minutes in the Lakers’ backcourt with Steve Nash just yet. Nash’s return from nerve damage in his back remains unknown and D’Antoni referred to him playing Sunday as doubtful.
With the departures of Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace, Bryant is joining quite a different team than the one he played for last year.
“We’ve developed some guys that are really going to contribute a lot, and it might not have happened if (Bryant) was here,” D’Antoni said. “You have to look at the bright side of it. Now we just have to get him back to the level that he’s capable of playing.”
The Raptors will look to spoil the party and close out a three-game road trip by snapping a five-game losing streak.
Their latest disappointment came Friday in a 106-97 loss at Phoenix. Amir Johnson scored a team-high 22, while Rudy Gay had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Toronto was outrebounded 53-36, including 18-11 on the offensive glass.
“We did a decent job of getting stops,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said, “but then didn’t get the rebounds. That’s about toughness, that’s about attention to detail.”
Power forward Tyler Hansbrough leaving the game in the first quarter with a sprained left shoulder didn’t help. He was scheduled to have it evaluated Saturday in Los Angeles.
With or without Bryant on the court, Casey said his team needs to worry first about fixing their own issues.
“We got to worry about us, no matter who we’re playing,” he said.
And no matter who the opponent is, Bryant’s expectations for Game 1 of his comeback remain simple.
“Just come out and win a game.”
Source: www.nba.com
