Pau Gasol scored 12 points, had six rebounds, and dished out four assists in the first half, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 54-46 halftime lead over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday morning at Air Canada Centre. The Lakers need a win Sunday to even their record on their six-game Grammy road trip at 3-3.
The Lakers led by as many as 18 points in the first half and led by 15 with 4:07 remaining in the second quarter, but Toronto ended the half on an 11-4 run to close the gap.
The Lakers were on fire in the first quarter, making 14 of 20 shots from the field (70%) and led 34-19 after 12 minutes, their highest-scoring quarter of the season. The Lakers led 29-11 at one point. Gasol made three of his four shots and had eight points, five rebounds, and four assists in the first quarter alone. Andrew Bynum had eight points and three rebounds in the opening quarter.
Kobe Bryant added seven points in the first half for the Lakers, who shot 56.8% (21 for 37) in the first half. The Lakers got 17 points from the bench in the opening half, with Troy Murphy leading the reserves with six points on a pair of three-pointers.
Jose Calderon scored 13 points to lead the Raptors, who shot 46.3% (19 for 41) in the first half.
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