The Toronto Raptors begin their four-game West Coast road trip on Sunday night in Los Angeles against the Lakers.
The pregame narrative: L.A. played yesterday and lost with Luka Doncic (groin) sidelined. It's expected that Doncic will play the second leg of this back-to-back; however, he is listed as questionable at the time of writing. Toronto is 12-8 on the road this season, and is a slim 1-point favourite tonight.
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Check out my Raptors vs. Lakers SGP predictions for Jan. 18, featuring Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley.
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Raptors vs. Lakers SGP
Parlay: Raptors moneyline | Barnes 8+ rebounds, Quickley 2+ threes (+275)
Raptors moneyline (-117): L.A. hasn't released its injury report yet, but Doncic and Deandre Ayton are questionable after not playing yesterday, and Austin Reaves remains sidelined.
On top of that, 41-year-old LeBron James played 32 minutes last night. If he were to suit up this evening, it would be his fifth game in the last seven days.
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Toronto has its own injury issues, with Jakob Poeltl and RJ Barrett out, but I like the Raptors to win and expect them to get more production out of their depth pieces.
The Lakers have been on a cold streak heading into this game, dropping five of their last six games while playing awful defence.
In that span, L.A. has a 122.3 defensive rating (29th in the NBA).
The Raptors lost to the Clippers on Friday, but have won six of their last seven games following a defeat.
NBA SGP legs
Barnes 8+ rebounds (-130): I think Barnes is due for a big night on the glass.
- The power forward has gone under this mark in five straight, but landed on exactly seven rebounds three times.
- He was on a five-game rebounding tear before that, going 4-1 vs. this line while averaging 13 rebounds per game.
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L.A. is a middle-of-the-pack rebounding team, and Ayton's status will play a big role on if this line moves higher.
But even if Ayton plays, I like Barnes' chances of feasting.
Barnes had 11 rebounds against L.A. when these teams met on Dec. 4, and is 5-1 against this line lifetime versus the Lakers.
Quickley 2+ threes (-445): Quickley is by far the most active 3-point shooter in Toronto's lineup, averaging a team-high 7.2 threes per game.
He doesn't shoot the lights out, but that shouldn't matter for a line this low.
Case in point: Quickley has hit two-plus 3s in all six games this month, despite shooting 29.6% from deep.
Los Angeles has the fourth-worst 3-point defence in the NBA (37.4).
Raptors vs. Lakers SGP predictions made at 1:40 p.m. on Jan. 18, 2026.
