TORONTO >> Even as his shots frequently rimmed out of the basket, Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram left coach Luke Walton encouraged by providing things that do not fill the highlight reels.
He still locked down defensively. He logged high plus-minus ratings, a tool to determine a players’ influence when he steps on the floor.
“If you’re not making your shot, you’re still impacting the game in a positive way,” Walton said. “Eventually those shots are going to start to drop.”
If only Walton could say the same thing about his entire team.
The Lakers lost, 113-80, to the Toronto Raptors on Friday at Air Canada Centre by failing to do something they did well two nights earlier.