If the Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA's gold standard -- and who could possibly argue that? -- then, on this day at least, the Raptors were somewhere down there with Argentina's peso.

Canadian teams are accustomed to being fleeced on the foreign exchange markets but this was downright embarrassing.

After a promising Toronto start, the Lakers took the Raptors to the woodshed, 109-89, in front of a sellout Air Canada Centre crowd which was hoping its heroes would make an emphatic statement against the two-time defending NBA champs.

If there was a statement somewhere in there, it sounded rather like a mumbled excuse, not a declaration of serious intent. L.A. beat the Raptors at every phase of the game, including the subtle art of politicking the officials.