LOS ANGELES — The game was about five minutes old and Scottie Barnes had done anything he wanted.
A basket on an offensive rebound and putback, a layup, a little six-foot jumper, another layup and another; five shot attempts, five baskets.
It reads like it was easy and in many ways it was: the Raptors were on their way to beating the disinterested and outmanned Los Angeles Lakers thanks to a rousing start to set them on their way.
Barnes finished the first quarter with 15 points, which is impressive, but what’s most telling about the evening is that he outscored the entire Lakers team by three in the period as the Raptors registered a 114-103 victory, their fourth in a row as they’ve buried any memories of a terrible post-all star stretch.