Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder (pictured) said he was attempting to help O.G. Anunoby get to his feet before the Toronto Raptors forward threw him to the floor Tuesday in Tampa, Fla. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI |
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April 7 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors erupted into an in-game scuffle after O.G. Anunoby threw Dennis Schroder to the floor with what the Lakers guard called a "WWE-style" move.
The scuffle occurred in the first quarter of the Lakers' 110-101 win Tuesday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. The Lakers led 34-20 with 2:24 remaining in the quarter when Anunoby caught a full-court pass on a breakaway for the Raptors.
Schroder ran back to defend and fouled the Raptors forward as he was going up for a shot. The two remained tied up through the contact. Schroder held onto Anunoby near his waist instead of allowing him to hit the floor.
Anunoby then stood up and flipped Schroder over, throwing the Lakers guard down so his back hit the floor. Shroder then got up and started to push Raptors players. Lakers big man Montrezl Harrell also got involved and shoved several players.
Harrell and Anunoby were ejected for their roles in the dustup. Anunoby had two points and three rebounds in the loss. Harrell did not score.
"He didn't need to go WWE with that," Schroder told reporters.
The Lakers led 68-42 at halftime and led by as many as 34 points in the victory. The Raptors outscored the Lakers 59-42 down the stretch, but could not close the deficit.
Raptors forward Pascal Siakam scored a game-high 27 points in the loss. Chris Boucher chipped in 19 points for the Raptors.
Talen Horton-Tucker paced the Lakers with 17 points off the bench. Lakers forward Markieff Morris had 15 points and nine rebounds in the victory.
Marc Gasol, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso scored 13 points apiece for the Lakers.
The Lakers (32-19) face the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m. EDT Thursday in Miami. The Raptors (20-31) battle the Chicago Bulls at 7:30 p.m. EDT Thursday in Tampa.