The Los Angeles Lakers are taking on the Toronto Raptors on the road on Friday night and LeBron James made headlines before the action even began. James showed up for the game wearing a Ghostface mask from the “Scream” movie franchise and had a message for Toronto as well.
“Live from LeBronto.”
James has given Raptors fans plenty of nightmares over the years. He has had a lot of success in Toronto and has all but turned the city into LeBronto at this point.
James has averaged 28.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in Toronto in the regular season prior to tonight’s contest. He has put together a 20-9 record against the Raptors on the road in the process and while all that’s impressive, it’s in the postseason where he has really tormented them.
James has a 12-2 record against the Raptors in the playoffs and swept them in 2017 and 2018 during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 20-time All-Star is 5-2 in Toronto in the postseason and has averaged 32.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game in those contests.
I don’t think there have been too many other instances of a player just dominating against a team in the way James has against the Raptors. He appears to be on course to have another excellent showing in Friday’s contest.
LeBron had 18 points, two rebounds, five assists, and one steal by halftime and helped the Lakers get out to a 76-51 lead. LA came into this game on the back of two straight losses and the 39-year-old seems determined to end that streak in Toronto.
Former Raptor Norman Powell Spoke On LeBron James’ Dominance Against The Raptors
Norman Powell was part of those Raptors teams that lost to James in the playoffs. During an appearance on Podcast P with Paul George, Powell opened up about James destroying the Raptors.
“LeBron James. ‘Bron had our number every single year. My rookie year was the best series we had against him where we took him to Game 6. After that, it was night night. No matter what we did, he had a counter to that. He’s coming down the court and yelling the plays out from start to finish. ‘The ball is going to end up on JV’s side with this that or the other’ and you sitting down like, he told a teammate what to do. This dude’s mind is on a different level because he knows our stuff, he knows their stuff, and he’s calling audible to adjust to our defensive scheme.”
James just had their number. The Raptors were the No. 1 seed in the East in 2017-18 but had no answer for him and got swept in the Conference Semifinals. That series featured some of James’ most iconic playoff moments too. In Game 2, he hit six ridiculous fadeaway shots in the fourth quarter.
James followed that up with an incredible game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 3 to all but end the series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XWgRpfkxhY
I’m sure the Raptors were delighted when James decided to head West after this season. They had suffered enough at his hands and would, of course, go on to win the title in 2019.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
