The LA Lakers prevailed 132-131 at home against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday to register consecutive wins for the first time in a month. LA was led by Anthony Davis with 41 points. Twenty of those points came in the fourth quarter. He went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line in that period to ice the game for the Lakers.

Toronto Raptors v Los Angeles Lakers

As LA got to the line almost at will, fans couldn’t help but notice a big disparity in the free-throw numbers. The Lakers had 23 attempts from the charity stripe in the final quarter alone. They converted 19 of them.

 

How many free throws did the Raptors have in the fourth quarter?

Two.

A fan claimed that the game was rigged by the referees in the LA Lakers’ favor:
“Refs just blatantly rigging games now. 4th quarter free throws: Lakers- 23 Raptors-2”

Another fan stated:
“Rob the reffing of that game makes it impossible to appreciate how he played. It was shameless to watch.”

Here are a few more comments that echoed a similar sentiment:

However, there were a few who appreciated Anthony Davis’ greatness:

Overall, the LA Lakers attempted 36 free throws in the game, while the Raptors had only 13. LA is fifth in the league for the total number of free-throw attempts this season with 925 shots, averaging 24.3 attempts per game.

While Davis was stellar from the charity stripe (13-of-14), he had a great field-goal percentage as well. The big man converted 13 of his 17 shots, including two-of-two from beyond the arc. Along with his 41 points, Davis also had 11 rebounds, six assists and one block.

 

LeBron James played the perfect second fiddle with 22 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, one steal and one block.

LA Lakers vs Toronto Raptors game review

The Toronto Raptors were without their primary rim protector Jakob Poeltl, something that Anthony Davis took advantage of to get to the line at will. Even though fans criticized the referees for the outcome, most of the calls, if not all, seemed valid.

Down 124-121 with 25 seconds left, Scottie Barnes had the chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer. While Barnes’ shot did go in, RJ Barrett got called for a moving screen on Davis. There was nothing nefarious about the call and it was in sync with the guidelines laid down to call a moving screen.

The game stayed close for most of the 48 minutes. The LA Lakers lead 28-24 at the end of the first quarter. However, it were the Raptors who went up 53-51 into the break.

 

After a combination of great defense and poor shooting in the first half, both offenses took off in the second half. The Lakers won the final two quarters 37-36 and 44-42. LA is now 19-19 and 10th in the West, whereas Toronto remains11th in the East with a 15-22 record.

Barnes led Toronto with 26 points, Pascal Siakam had 25, Barrett had 23 and Immanuel Quickley had 21.