Julius Randle Stars But Lakers Lose to Raptors

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night, but Julius Randle had a stand out performance

In 22 minutes and 28 seconds of game play, Julius Randle dazzled his way to 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, but the Los Angeles Lakers ultimately lost to the Toronto Raptors 105-97 on Thursday night in Ontario.

After holding training camp and playing the first two preseason games in Hawaii, the Lakers finally returned to California and immediately headed out east to the Inland Empire. Fans in attendance got a good glimpse of Kobe Bryant, who played 22 minutes, scored 16 points, pulled down three rebounds and passed off three assists. On the whole, Bryant played well.

However, Bryant's stardom may have been slightly eclipsed on the court by the strength, agility and quickness of Randle. Randle, who is only 20 years young, finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes on Thursday night. The numbers, though, only hinted at the performance the promising forward put together.

With point guard D'Angelo Russell out of the lineup, Randle picked up some of the slack and played as a point forward pushing the ball with purpose. At one point, the 6-foot 9-inch forward dribbled behind his back to avoid a defender and found a wide open Bryant standing at the ready at the three-point line. Bryant knocked down the shot, and the fast break speed at which the sequence occurred should have had fans at home salivating.

Fans in attendance collectively gasped at the dribbling and wildly applauded the pass before erupting on Bryant's made basket. Watching a player of Randle's size evade defenders and dribble past opponents hinted at the special talent the Lakers now have on their roster. 

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"The game is starting to slow down for us," Randle told NBCLA.com after the game. "I had a great summer of preparation and conditioning skill-wise."

Lakers coach Byron Scott also seemed impressed with his young forward.

"I'm just very happy with the way he's playing," Scott said about Randle. "He's getting a lot of things right that we talked about on both ends of the floor. And he's a worker. He's worked hard to get to this point. I think he has a lot of ability to do a lot of different things on the basketball court. We're starting to see some of those things come to light. "

The Lakers will take Friday off, which will be the first time the Lakers have an off-day since the start of training camp. LA will practice on Saturday and host Maccabi Haifa at Staples Center on Sunday.

Notes: Robert Upshaw and Jonathan Holmes both earned time on the court after sitting out the first two preseason games. Nick Young started in place of Russell (bruised glute), but Scott said he did not envision Young taking Russell's starting spot after the game. Brandon Bass sat out due to a sore left knee, and Marcelo Huertas missed his third straight game with a hamstring issue. Huertas was not with the team, as he was in Vancouver working out a visa issue.

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