In a regular season game that ended today, the Raptors lost 123-128 to the Lakers at home, and the previous five-game winning streak came to an abrupt end. They are currently in seventh place in the East with a 39-31 loss, just one win away from the sixth-place Cavaliers in the East. As long as they maintain their recent competitive form, they can completely avoid play-offs.
After the game, Raptors rising star Barnes was interviewed by the media, and when asked by reporters what he thought of the star player James in the opposing squad, Barnes replied very bluntly: "I like Kobe more than James. I'm a fan of Kobe. ”
James played 45 minutes, scoring 36 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists on 15-of-26 shooting and taking away the victory from Toronto, Barnes was tough against the legendary star, contributing 31 points, 17 rebounds and 6 assists on 14-of-21 shooting. The data shows that when he was on the court, the Raptors also scored 5 points to beat the Lakers.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time That Barnes and James have met, just two days ago, the Raptors defeated the Lakers 114-103 at the Staples Center, and Barnes faced James for the first time in that game, scoring 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists on 9-of-17 shooting. As a young man who has just entered the league, Barnes's performance against James can be described as amazing.
Interestingly, although Barnes was a little too blunt when talking about James, James praised Barnes, saying that he was surprised by his size and athleticism and ball handling skills.
Last summer, the Raptors chose to trade lowry, a team he had played for many years, and thought that the team would sink and rebuild, but what people did not expect was that they remained competitive in the midst of a lot of disapproval, in addition to the leadership of VanVleet and Siakam, Barnes was also considered to be indispensable.
In the 62 games he has played so far, the 21-year-old has averaged 15.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from three-point range, and is considered one of the strong contenders for the season's best rookie.