Raptors clipped by L.A. in final quarter
Toronto continues to play inconsistent ball — only this time it costs them a victory
TORONTO — Lou Williams and the Los Angeles Clippers, fighting for their playoff lives, turned on the offence in the fourth quarter to defeat the Toronto Raptors, 117-106, Sunday.
After trailing by as many as 18 early, the Clippers finally took the lead in a third quarter in which they outscored Toronto 27-20. Tied at 80 going into the fourth, Los Angeles opened the quarter on a 16-2 run.
The Raptors closed to within five at 105-100 after a 7-0 run. But Williams carried the Los Angeles offence with 18 of his 26 points in the final quarter.
The Clippers (39-34) are looking to claw their way back into the playoff picture. Toronto (54-20) is looking to get its game right going into the playoffs.
Tobias Harris had 20 points and Montrezl Harrell added 19 for the Clippers.
Jonas Valanciunas led the Raptors with 16 points. DeMar DeRozan, on 3-of-12 shooting, and birthday boy Kyle Lowry (32), on 4-of-9, each had 11 points.
The Clippers won 96-91 when the teams met in Los Angeles in December.
Valanciunas scored the Raptors’ first eight points and 12 of their first 14 as Toronto, showing the focus it lacked for most of Friday’s comeback win over lowly Brooklyn, ran up a 27-9 lead. The Clippers missed 10 of their first 14 shots.
A 17-5 Clippers run reduced Toronto’s advantage to 35-28 at the end of the first.
Paced by the second unit, the Raptors maintained their lead in the second. Despite a 9-0 L.A. run and four-minute-plus Toronto scoring drought, the Raptors led 60-53 at the half.
Valanciunas saw little action in the second quarter after picking up a third foul. DeRozan and Serge Ibaka shot a combined 1-of-11 in the half. On the other side, Williams and Austin Rivers were a combined 4-of-17 as the Raptors led for the entire half.
Toronto made eight of its first 12 threepoint attempts en route to making at least 10 three-pointers for a franchise-record 16th straight game. But after making their first eight, they hit on just one of the next 10 until C.J. Miles finally hit the Raptors’ 10th three-pointer of the night late in the third quarter.
After Valanciunas went to the bench early in the third with his fourth foul, the Clippers closed to within one at 64-63 by taking advantage of a Lowry technical foul. Los Angeles then took its first lead of the game at 66-64 on a Rivers three-pointer with 7:23 remaining in the third.
Miles and Pascal Siakam combined for 15 points in the third quarter to keep the Raptors in it.
The Clippers used seven-foot-three Boban Marjanovic in the fourth for rim protection.
Toronto came into the game having lost two of its last four — against Cleveland and Oklahoma City — and coach Dwane Casey lamenting his team’s sluggish play against the Nets last time out.
“I thought we had bad habits in our last game,” Casey said prior to facing the Clippers. “Looking at the (Nets) record and listening to the noise.”
Casey’s wish list includes a return to consistency and playing to the Raptors’ own identity, so as to avoid an “emotional roller-coaster ride.” Despite recent defensive lapses, the Raptors had still won 20 of their last 23. And they were a league-best 30-6 at home.
Toronto’s franchise record for wins in a season is 56, set in 2015-16. The record for home wins is 32, also from 2015-16
Sunday’s game was the Raptors’ penultimate against a Western Conference opponents, with only Denver left. Toronto had already set a franchise-high with 18 wins over West teams.
The Clippers, who started the day in 10th spot in the West, are fighting for a playoff berth. But they have been headed in the wrong direction recently. Los Angeles, on the final stop of a four-game road trip, arrived having lost five of its last six.