Lakers report: Nick Young’s hot shooting continues

Lakers guard Nick Young doesn’t want to jinx himself by talking about it much, but his shooting has reached historic levels.

In the last eight games, Young has made 36 three-point baskets, the most in franchise history for a player in an eight-game span.

“I’m in the books for something,” Young said with a laugh. “It’s an honor. Feels good. It’s a blessing to do that. I didn’t know about it coming into the game. Just my teammates finding me and coaching staff believing in me.”

Young made seven of nine three-point shots against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, and eight of 14 shots overall. His 26 points were second on the team to point guard D’Angelo Russell, who had 28 points and made six three-pointers.

“What I’m really proud about with Nick is a lot of his shots, he’s letting them come in the flow of the game,” Coach Luke Walton said.

During the last eight games, Young has made 56.3% of his shots.

Black is back

Center Tarik Black had played only three minutes since injuring an ankle Dec. 5, in part because of his recovery and in part because Walton didn’t want to take away minutes from Thomas Robinson.

But Black got an opportunity Sunday.

He made the most of it. Black was active defensively, grabbing five rebounds in his first six minutes.

“I’m confident I can be back,” Black said. “I’m confident I’m moving forward and I’m just going to keep on rehabbing, stay on top of it, make sure I’m taking care of my end of it. If it hurt it hurts, I can’t help it. But I’m going to make sure I’m doing my part in order to get back and be right.”

Black finished with nine points and nine rebounds against the Raptors.

Walton is learning

Walton is still learning what buttons to push with each player. Sometimes when he yells, the purpose is to find out just what motivates players.

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Lakers forward Brandon Ingram, left, passes the ball after driving the baseline against Raptors center Jakob Poeltl during the second half.

  (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)

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Lakers forward Brandon Ingram is fouled by Raptors forward Pascal Siakam while attempting a shot during the second half.

  (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)

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Lakers forward Julius Randle steals the ball from Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan during the second half.

  (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)

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Lakers center Timofey Mozgov fouls Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan as he attempts a shot during the first half.

  (Kelvin Kuo / AP)

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Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, left, reacts after being fouled by Lakers center Timofey Mozgov (20) during the first half.

  (Kelvin Kuo / AP)

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Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, left, and Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell fall to the court as they battle for the ball during the first half.

  (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)

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Raptors guard Kyle Lowry drives past Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell during the first half Sunday.  (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)

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Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and Lakers forward Julius Randle battle for a rebound during the first half.

  (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)

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Lakers guard Nick Young challenges a shot by Raptors guard Kyle Lowry during the first half.  (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)

“You can get a general idea pretty quickly,” Walton said. “Then you have to decide if you’re OK with that or if you want to continue to challenge them in different ways. I know a group of our guys that don’t respond well to getting all over at all. And I know a group that normally plays a lot better when you get on them. I try to keep that in mind in the middle of a game or in practice if we need to do something differently.”

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Twitter: @taniaganguli