Darko Rajakovic | Post Game vs Lakers | December 04, 2025

you know, seemed like there was going to be a timeout at one point and then the last few minutes end up getting played with a timeout without a timeout. What did you think of the final few possessions? Uh, anything? I thought that that uh all of their their post stops when they were double teaming, I thought that we were doing good job of cutting there and finding open people. So, that thought that part was really good. Um, again, BI uh he he had an ISO against their five men. I thought that that we got to the spot where we wanted to the rim. Now, is was that a foul? Was that not not a foul? That’s not not not very important. We missed that layup. But those are the shots that we were willing to live with. So, uh um similar to situation like we had with Indiana not calling timeout u and trusting him in that situation. We’re going to continue trusting him in those situations. Can he is he can you ask him to be or or does he need to be a little faster when a little more help comes his way uh on when he has the ball and there’s like a second man helping with his decision with his decision making whether like getting off the ball. I mean he I thought uh that he did with seven assists tonight. I think I thought that he passed the ball really well. uh some of those situations we we as a team we put him in a tough situation but the clock is already running down you know so we got to trust the team you know uh tonight we had uh 39 assists we did move the ball as a team uh we scored 120 points offense was not that much of issue that the issue was on defensive end especially first half and we allowed them to score a lot of points and to score 40 points in the paint and uh that was completely different story in the second half and we kept them to 18 points in the paint. So that’s something that we got to clean up and be better at and u but when it comes to those decisions there is always room for improvement and then uh you know making faster decisions for everybody. You guys hold LeBron to eight points and snaps his historic double figures uh streak but he has the 11 assists makes that pass on the last possession there even at 40. How tough is he with the ball in his hands in those situations? I thought that uh Scotty did outstanding job on him. He was his primary matchup for majority of the night. Uh Scotty, he was shooting four for 17. The big reason for that is Scotty really putting him in tough tough positions and tough situations and uh at the same time he’s a player who is really good with the ball with his size with his understanding of the game. He he’s just sees the the floor really really well. And uh you know we missed our shot at the end and they made their shot at the end. So, we got another one tomorrow. Collins spent some time on him as well, and he had a good night on both ends of the floor, but I know you’re always saying like as a rookie, as a 20-year-old, nothing really phases him, but to go up against LeBron to stop him a couple times at the rim in the first half, how how cool is that to see for a young man who’s still learning his It’s It’s great. the the difference there is only 20 years of experience you know so it was really good for uh for him to get opportunity to see what it takes to guard those guys. Same thing uh for Austin Reeves who is really really hard matchup. Uh you know I think u that we needed to do better job there of not fouling him in some situations when he was already picking the ball up and going to the rim. What’s the lesson there when a guy is so used to like trying to get to the free throw line using his angles to kind of get there? What’s the way you tell a guy to keep his hands out of that cookie jar? It is a lesson for guys not to do that. You know, this league is such a league that certain players they going to get more calls than some other players. You know, that’s just reality of it. And uh all we all we can do there is like really be very very cautious. I thought that uh um Jacobe did a good job on him not not uh not fouling at the same time when you’re not fouling and creating more space like those type of players they they just get to the spots on the floor they want and they’re elite scorers like you know he is a lead scorer for for a reason. We kept him to 14 points in the first half. That was good. But, you know, he got off in the second half. And those those uh he made two threes. They were almost like half court shots, you know. So, what you going to do with that? You know, learn and then get better for the next time. Talked a lot over the last couple weeks about opportunity for guys with RJ out. It seems like all those guys really took advantage today. Great knocking down a couple threes. You mentioned Jacobe Jameson in the fourth quarter. Be happy with what you were able to get from guys at that position. Well, sure. I mean, think about like how how young all of those guys are that you just mentioned and what it means for them to be in uh on the court playing against LeBron James and uh you know, they’re a team that’s built to to compete for a championship at this point, you know, so for us, for the growth of those guys, like this is going to be amazing amazing feel for our guys to learn and get better through this. So, can’t wait for for another opportunity to play this same team. Did you give any thought to closing the game with Jacobe considering the net he had the defense he was playing on? Yes, but at the same time Jamal was doing do a really good job there as well and Jamal was helping us to get organized on offensive side of the ball bowl and allowing quickly to space the floor more. So those are always tough decisions both of them they deserve to do to finish the game today. At this point of a very condensed week is there a point where fatigue starts to set in and what do you do to try and like mitigate that through these last few games? This is NBA. There is no place for for the fatigue. There is another game tomorrow, you know, and we just got to get ready and then, you know, get our shoes ready, laces up and then go and hoop, you know, that that cannot be excused for us.

Head Coach Darko Rajakovic speaks with the media following the Raptors 123-120 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.

#Raptors #TorontoRaptors

20 comments

  5. Love Mamu, but he isn't a 5 man. Would love for Bobby to add a true back up for Jak so nights like tonight we have proper size.

    The league needs to stop rewarding foul grifting, seeing AR just fly into defenders while chucking it at the rim is absurd. That isn't basketball.

  6. We would have won if the refs actually called a technical on Lebron for sitting on the bench well the game was still being played and no time out was called. I was at the game and this mistake had reeves score 2 points to time the game and then 20 seconds after that the final sequence happens and they make the 3. There was bad calls all game but this was the worst as it literally lost the raptors the game. It was so inexcusable, Lebron gets away with so much.

  8. Start taking accountability for your coaching methods it’s clear you don’t see the issues so I’ll call it out. Either call out the guys or get the fuck out of this organization

  10. Darko feels guilty if he doesn't get his starters on the floor at the end of the 4th. Darko 's coaching by tradition, not cleverly.
    Your starters lost the first QR (always), then, the bench comes in to rescue them, and we could think common sense would prevail and tell you, "they lose the first QR, they will also lose the last 5 mins of the 4th. gonna do something different here". It doesn't take a genius to figure it out.
    So, what's the solution? Leave the performers players on the floor till the game's over. And leave the lazy ones, like IQ on the bench. We know IQ can't guard shit.

  13. This coaching staff and front office keep acting like having a real backup center doesn’t matter, and it’s killing us every time Jakob Poeltl isn’t on the floor. It should not take this many losses for them to understand that without him the team basically cannot win.

    You cannot fake having a center. You cannot scheme around it. The position gives you the easiest offense in basketball: rebounds, rim protection, rim deterrence, lobs, easy finishes. That is what guys like Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka provided. They gave the team simple, reliable scoring when everything slowed down in the playoffs.

    And to be completely honest shit, Bobby Webster, this refusal to prioritize a center has been dragging the team down for half a decade. Fix it. I am tired of the same mistake being repeated over and over, and if nothing changes, this might be the last ticket I buy.

  15. I thought it was a game for the Raptors – big difference from last year. Remember where we were a year ago. It was a good shot for the Lakers at the end.could have gone either way. I am proud of how they played. Hard to believe we are in second place. The Lakers are in second place in the west and the game reflected a good match. They had Luka out, we had RJ and Jak out.

  20. There was a lack of consistency in the calls last night, but the Raptors never get calls, its just something they need to play through.

Leave a Reply