RAPTORS NIP LAKERS ON LATE FREE THROWS

The Los Angeles Lakers are still the defending NBA champions, but for one day at least the Toronto Raptors got the best of them.  Hedo Turkoglu sank two free throws with just over a second remaining to give his team a 106-105 home victory as the Raptors pulled above .500 at 23-22 on the year.  The Lakers also fell a few percentage points behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA’s best record, though Los Angeles still leads second place Denver in the West by 3 ½ games.
 
Toronto covered the NBA pointspread as +4 underdogs with the outright victory.  The Raptors have been one of the best wagering investments in the NBA of late, covering 12 of their last 17 games.  The Lakers, meanwhile, have only covered four of their last ten contests.  The 211 combined points scored went OVER the posted total of 208.  Toronto has gone OVER in 7 of their last 10 games while the Lakers have gone UNDER in 6 of 10.

Afterwards, Turkoglu expressed surprise that he got to the line with the chance to win the game:

"I was surprised. I thought I wasn't going to go to the line. Usually I don't rely on that because sometimes you get calls and sometimes you don't. I just tried to take the best shot I could."

Pau Gasol was whistled for the foul, and for his part didn’t think it was a good call:

"It was a questionable call. I don't think I pushed him at all. My arm was on his back but I never pushed him. A tough call at a critical part of the game."

Toronto’s Chris Bosh sounded an optimistic note over his team’s solid play of late:

"Huge win, not only because it is against the Lakers, but we are continuing to play well at home.”

The Raptors improved to 15-6 SU on their home floor with the victory.  The Lakers are now 10-8 SU on the road.

Toronto is off until Wednesday night when they’ll face the Miami Heat at the Air Canada Centre.  They’ll play at New York against the Knicks on Thursday before returning home to face the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.  The Lakers continue an East Coast road swing this week with a game against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.  They’ll head to Indiana on Wednesday and wrap up the week with a game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.